


Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-blooded Orphans MOURN

by ColonyDropper69



Category: Gundam & Related Fandoms, 機動戦士ガンダム 鉄血のオルフェンズ | Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Genre: Action, Blood and Violence, Death, Gen, Mecha, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25204975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColonyDropper69/pseuds/ColonyDropper69
Summary: A sequel to Iron-blooded Orphans.The Alaya-Vijnana System. A system that allows a human and a machine to be united as one, allowing for higher combat capabilities. Most of those who possess this system were enslaved by mercenaries and were dubbed, 'Human Debris', as they were seen to have the same value as space debris.After the signing of the Human Debris Abolishment Treaty by the leader of Gjallarhorn, Rustal Ellion and the Chairwoman of the Mars Union, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, Human Debris have officially gained human rights and the use of the Alaya-Vijnana system were beginning to dissipate.However... What if the person with an Alaya-Vijnana doesn't have a will to begin with?The Alaya-Vijnana Type Revival, a system that allows the revival of a preserved body using a Mobile Suit.P.D. 333. After being in deep sleep inside the MOURN for more than half a decade, Hush Middy woke up inside the cockpit of the ASW-G-54 Gundam Murmur and was left with no memories of his past life.Why was he revived? Will he find those he had lost touch with? Now begin, the journey of a lost soul trying to find the place where he truly belong.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 7





	1. Revival

P.D 333.

"Where am I?" The voice of a young man spoke as he realised that he was surrounded by complete darkness. It felt as if he was floating as his feet wasn't touching anything but he couldn't move his body anywhere, as if they were ensnared by something. 

However, there was no one to answer his question. "Hello? Is anyone out there?" He asked again to only be met with the same results. There truly was nothing but a deep dark void surrounding him until...

From afar, a ball of light suddenly sparked itself into existence, lighting everything inside the void that he sat in. Its shine was intense which reflected on its large size. Although his vision was clearer, there was nothing there except for him and the light. 

His eyes widened when they saw it. He was enchanted by it, drawn to it. So much so that his arm unconsciously reached for it. But, he couldn't grasp on to it as it was too far away.

Without warning, the ball of light started flying towards him at incredible speed, as if it's a shooting star.

He felt a sudden sharp pain throughout his body. Then, he felt a large lump in his throat, it felt like he was choking on something, causing him to cough uncontrollably. Not long after, his nose started bleeding. 

He wiped it off with the back of his hand and started taking deep breaths, calming himself down before slowly opening his eyes.

That was when he realised, he was sitting in a completely different place than before, a place that felt familiar to him. 

The whole place was lit up by a single orange light. It was small enough to fit only 1 seat and person. There were black glass screens making up the sections of the walls of the place. Directly in front of him, there were two white control sticks. His feet were resting on two pedals.

"This place is..." He thought to himself. He couldn't shake off the familiarity he felt. He moved a bit to the front and felt something sticking on his back. This prompted him to look behind and saw a cable that was sticking out of the seat behind him. 

He grasped on to it, "A cable? Where is it...," he began feeling along the cable to the direction opposite of the seat trying to see where it lead up to. 

That was when he found out that the cable was attached to his back. Needless to say, he was surprised, shocked even. So much so that he could sweat beginning to come out. "How is this possibl-?"

Suddenly, he felt an intense numbness inside his head. He did not know it at the time but his brain was actually finally processing the important data that it had just received. 

"Gundam Murmur...? Gundam Frame? Mobile Suit? Is that where I am right now? Inside the cockpit of a Mobile Suit?" He thought to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise, reminiscent to that of machinery moving. Then, he could feel that the cockpit that he was in was lifting up. Once it stopped, the wall above him slowly flipped up and out to the front. 

He looked up and saw lights from above glaring at him, causing his eyes to flinch a bit. 

"Hmm... The subject appears to be fine," he heard a voice said. He glanced over to his side and saw that a woman in her mid 20s, wearing a white lab coat and a pair of glasses standing on a platform next to the cockpit, looking at a tablet. 

He became curious of her as he thought that this woman might know why he was in the cockpit. So, he spoke out to her in a polite manner, "Um, what am I doing in here?"

The woman suddenly stopped and looked up to meet with his eyes with a shocked expression.

"Y-You...," she had a hard time speaking as her voice and breathing became unstable. Even so, she was able to force the next few words out, "You can speak?!"

He looked at her, confused. Of course he can speak, why wouldn't he be able to? "Yes," he answered.

The tablet was dropped to the ground with a loud thud. The woman let out a loud gasp before covering her mouth. She moved a step back only to fall down on her bottom. "Impossible...," she muttered. "That's impossible!"


	2. Intact

"How did this happen?!" The woman with glasses walked back and forth inside the the wide spaced infirmary which was incidentally her office as well. 

"Calm down, Linda," a man in his late twenties sitting on a chair at a nearby desk said. He was looking at the computer screen containing the results from the tests that they got from 'him'.

"How can I calm down?!" said Professor Linda Houseki, almost outraged, "This shouldn't even be possible in the first place, Karl! I'm surprised that you're so nonchalant about this!" 

"Now now. Science is built based upon the principles of the world," said Professor Karl Yamato. "When used, correctly-"

Linda cut him off, "'Science can find out the roots, in other words the truth an event inside this world,' yes yes I've heard that several times, already."

"Then, calm down. We can't use it correctly if we don't calmly analyse the situation."

Linda let out a defeated sigh, "I understand."

"Okay, I'm done."

"Is that so?" Linda walked over to him.

"Yeah. I've completely examined his brain. It's completely intact and functioning like a normal human brain."

"Seriously?!" She said, in disbelief. "But how? This hadn't happened before. Is he special? Was something different about his preservation process? Maybe his brain wasn't completely asleep, after all?" 

"No, that can't be possible. We already confirmed that his preservation process is the same as any other. If his brain wasn't fully asleep, it would've died without any nutrients provided. Plus, all of his cells are still in tact." 

"Then... It must be... The Gundam Frame..."

Before she could say anymore however..., "Um... Excuse me," 'He' who had been sitting at a nearby chair and quietly listening to them talk finally spoke out. "Is it okay if I ask for an explanation?" He asked them in a polite manner.

Dr. Karl gave him a gentle smile and answered, "Oh, that's right. Of course, you would want answers too. Right, Hush Middy?"

He shot him a look of confusion, "'Hush Middy'?

"That's your name, right?" Dr. Karl answered. "We found it on your ID. My name is Dr. Karl Yamato. She is my co-worker, Dr. Linda Houseki." 

"Hush Middy...," he muttered aloud, "So that's my name..."

"Wait a minute...," said Linda suddenly, "You don't remember?"

"Remember? Remember what?"

Linda was starting to get a little irritated, "Your identity! Do you not remember?"

Hush was suddenly stunned. It did not hit him until now. Who was he, really, he wondered? He tried searching his brain for information, forcing himself to remember. But, in the end, he wasn't able to find anything.

"I'm sorry... I don't remember...," he hung his down with a look of devastation formed on his face. "I don't remember a single thing about my past... I have no memories before coming here."

Dr. Karl noticed that his hands were shaking. Hush was beginning to stress himself out. He stood up and walked over to him. He gently rested his hand on his shoulder. "You must be tired, right? We'll explain everything to you, tomorrow. For now, get some rest, okay?"

Hush looked up to meet with his face. Dr. Karl had the same gentle smile as before. Somehow, looking at it managed to calm him down. "I understand," he answered.

"Good," Dr. Karl turned over to Linda and called her name, "Linda."

Linda, knowing what to do, turned to the desk behind her where there was a large rectangle multi-button remote on it. She pressed one of the buttons on it.

Several moments after, the door to the laboratory swung open. A young girl, seemingly in her early twenties entered the room and immediately walked over to Linda. 

When she passed by Hush, he could see that her face was as pale as milk, and an expression as dead as a fish. Not to mention, it didn't seem like she was paying much attention to her surroundings. 

She stopped dead about 1.5m in front of Linda. However she made no effort to speak at all. Instead, Linda pointed at Hush and commanded her to, "Bring him to your room, Lily."

Using Linda's hand as a hint, she turned around to face Hush. She stared at him blankly yet there was intention behind her eyes.

"Subject and object confirmed," said Lily deadpanned. She then asked, "Method?"

"Method, huh...? Hmm...," Linda pondered what to answer. Before suddenly saying, "Uh... Then, bridal carry."

"Method confirmed," Lily replied. She then asked, "Speed?" 

"Fast." 

"Speed confirmed. Command confirmed. Commencing."

Lily walked over to Hush's side. She crouched before laying a hand under his knees and another under his neck.

This startled Hush a bit, "W-What are you doing?"

She lifted him up with not effort at all.

"W-Whoa!" Hush was surprised and amazed by both her action and strength.

Without warning, she began sprinting out of the room at incredible speed, causing Hush to scream, "WHOA!!!"

Linda let out a sigh. She turned to Dr. Karl, "Are you sure it's okay not to tell him immediately?"

"I don't plan on hiding it from him," he replied, "He has a right to know about his own body. But... right now...."

Linda saw him clenching his own fist. She could tell he was conflicted by the hardened expression on his face. She decided to blow off the tension with the best way she knew. She walked over to him and touched his shoulder, "Come on, let's work."

His expression softened, "Yeah..."


	3. Uncomfortness

As soon as they left the room, the sound of Lily's foot hitting the metal grate floor can be heard resonating throughout the hallway. Although she was fast, Hush felt incredibly secure being in her arms. Since he didn't have to worry about falling off, he decided to check out his surroundings. 

He glanced over the metal railings and could see that they were actually on an upper level in a place reminiscent of a mobile suit hangar. The floor below had several Mobile Suits with several workers in white lab coats attending to them. Alongside them, they could see a few unconscious people with a naked top laying inside a semi enclosed sarcophagus surrounded in a liquid gel. 

Hush wondered what they were doing. Was it something similar to what he did just a few hours ago? If so, what was he doing in a Mobile Suit cockpit? These questions kept tugging at his brain. He was confused about his own situation.

That was when he caught sight of it, Gundam Murmur. Its knight-like body consisted of a primarily dark gunmetal grey armour, a lighter shade of grey for the inner frame, paired with white vents and accents. On its chest and knees, there were ice blue power symbols. Its head, while mostly in the same colour as his body, its face has the same colour as the inner frame hidden behind a gunmetal grey muzzle with two vent lines poking through. Below them, there were a thin white protruding rectangular section. The golden eyes gave off an intense glare. Sitting on his forehead was a white trident-like V fin which looked similar to a crown. On its back, there was a pair of large pure white angelic wings that gave the Mobile Suit a presence that's nothing short of impressive and greatly contrasted with the rest of the suit.

Hush's eyes curiously gazed on the Mobile Suit as they left the hangar.

Minutes after, the two arrived in a hallway consisting of several rooms with the only way to access each of them was through a single metal door.

Lily walked across the hallway before directly stopping in front of a room. She used the palm of her right hand on the scanning terminal next to the door while sitll propping up Hush's head with her arm.

The metal door slid up into a recess. Lily walked in. Suddenly, she dropped off Hush. He fell to the cold metal ground on his side, letting out a slight, "Gackh...!

"Command completed," said Lily with a deadpanned tone and expression, completely unaffected by what she just did.

Hush got up from the ground as he reservedly said, "That hurt actually..."

However, Lily didn't acknowledged his words and merely walked over and stood still in front one of the beds.

Hush was surprised that she didn't care one bit. However, he decided to ignore it and took an opportunity to look around the room. Although there really isn't much to look at in the first place. 

The room was very clean with 4 metal walls and a metal ceiling making it up. The ceiling has a single yet long bar of white LED light on it. There were two beds arranged along the wall next to each other. There was a pillow on it with a folded blue blanket sitting at the end. But, the bed and the pillow itself had no covers or anything of the sort. 

And that was about it. There was nothing else in the room other than the door and the beds. No windows, no nothing. It looked almost prison-like. That's just how empty the room looked, at a first glance there is. 

After looking around a bit more, Hush noticed that there was a slightly recessed section at the corner of the room opposite to the beds that was shaped like a door. He walked over to it and examined the door. It was hard to notice if at first considering that it had the same colour as the walls and the fact that it is recessed only slightly. Then, he noticed that there is a a bit deeper thin rectangular recessed section in the left side of the door that he assumed is the door handle. 

He slid his fingers in and gripped it before sliding it open to the right. The door opened relatively easily. 

Hush could see that behind the door was the bathroom. It had a sink, a toilet bowl and everything. After observing it for a minute or two, he closed it as he found nothing interesting about it.

When he turned around, he saw that Lily was still in the same position as before, not a single muscle was moved.

He paid her no attention and simply walked over to the empty bed next to hers before laying on it. The bed felt hard. Since there were no covers on the bed itself or on the pillow, it felt uncomfortably rough which made sleeping on the floor seemed more appealing.

However, that was when Hush realised something, his back. It felt like there was something on it. He sat up and began reaching it with this arms, which he had no trouble doing, and felt something, or rather three things protruding from it. He began touching it and felt the hardness of something closely resembling to metal.

"W-What is this...?" He felt a slight uncomfortness about these protrusions. Then, he was reminded when he was connected to Murmur. There were wires going into his back.

"It was thanks to these things, huh?" 

This however lead him back to the questions which he had been wanting answers for. What was he doing in there? Why was he plugged into Murmur? Who exactly was he? Why can't he remember anything? He became even more uncomfortable just thinking about it. But he knew there was no point in wondering about these questions. He knew no one is there to give him the answers. 

So he laid down on his sides and tried sleeping on it to get rid of this uncomfortness.

But he wasn't able to sleep, even after an hour of attempting to do so. He just couldn't get the questions off his mind.

That was when he decided to just turned his attention towards other things. He sat up from the bed and turned his attention to Lily who was still at the same spot as before. Her posture, her position, her facial expression, they were all completely unchanged.

"That's amazing...," Hush said aloud to her. However, he got no response at all.

"Don't you get tired from just standing like that?"

Again, there was no response, like she didn't even hear him in the first place. Hush got off the bed and walked over to her. "Your name is Lily, right? My name is Hush. Hush Middy." 

This time, Hush waited a good minute for her response, thinking that she was probably too shy to talk. However, the result was the same as before. "I'm talking to you. Please don't ignore me," he said in a polite manner. 

Hush took his hand and held it in from of her in order to get her attention. He started waving it up and down. Her eyes didn't move, let alone flinch. He then moved it front and back but got the same result as before. It's like Hush's existence was completely invisible before her.

"This person is weird...," thought Hush.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from the wall opposite to the beds, as if something was moving inside of it. He turned his attention towards the noise only for it completely disappear.

Then, from within the middle of the wall, there were two square sections that pushed themselves out before sliding up. What was revealed behind each of them was a compartment with a metal tray inside, a metal spoon and a glass of water. 

That was when Lily finally spoke, "Dinnertime," she walked over to the compartment and took out said items. Hush followed her and saw what looked at what was inside the tray. It was a large amount of turquoise goop which looked... Unappetising to Hush.

However, Lily simply scooped out a huge chunk of it and ate it. Then, she continued eating it.

Hush glanced over at the other compartment. Well, he was feeling hungry right now which meant he didn't have much choice. He took the spoon and the tray which of course had the same turquoise goop inside it. But then, Hush thought, "Maybe it tastes better than it looks?" to try and make himself feel optimistic so that he would feel better about the idea of eating it. 

He took a deep breath and released. Feeling optimistic, he took a chunk of the goop and ate it.

What came next was the most revolting taste ever known to mankind. The taste was undescribable and the super sticky texture did not help either. The chunk that he ate began sticking inside his throat, causing him to choke. He dropped the tray and the spoon on the ground and fell to his knees.

He began coughing uncontrollably and started hitting his chest to try and get the chunk down down.

Then, he noticed the glass of water inside the compartment and reached for it. He gulped it all down in three seconds flat.

After it went down, he started taking deep breaths.

He looked at the tray of goop and thought, "That shit almost killed me!"

Hush glanced over at Lily to see how she's doing. She was calmly eating the goop without difficulty. 

"This person is too amazing...," he thought. 

He shoved the tray, spoon and glass back into the compartment and head on back to bed.


	4. False Justification

It was the next morning when Karl and Linda stood in front of the metal door at the other end of the hallway. Behind this door is the office to the owner of this laboratory, Nobunaga Willford. He was referred to as the, Mr. Nobunaga. Of course, Karl and Linda were no exception. 

The iron doors slid open automatically and the two entered. In front of them, was a black mahogany desk. Behind it, sat a very old man with crooked facial features and fit yet bulky build wearing a grey hat and a grey suit.

Once the doors closed, the two greeted him with a simple, "Good morning," to which was then returned to them with the deep old man voice that Nobunaga have, "Good morning."

Linda began speaking first, "We're here to report our investigation regarding yesterday's incident where a subject by name of, 'Hush Middy' was able to be revived alongside his consciousness." 

"Please do." 

"As you know, the MOURN, Maintenainer of Organisms for Upcoming Revival Nanomachines, is a machine that utilises nanomachines with the ability to preserve bodies in a near-death state. After the 24 hours preservation process, the body is put into deep sleep which simultaneously prevents the process of necrosis and the activities of the cells," said Karl, "However, the problem here is to reverse the deep sleep process. Simply removing the body from the MOURN won't do it and would only cause the cells to die out after a minimum of 6 hours. The body itself requires it to be physically reset. That's where the Alaya-Vijnana Type Revival comes in. After installing the Type Revival which is heavily based on the Perfect Alaya-Vijnana, they are then connected to a mobile suit. From there, we manually momentarily overload the Alaya-Vijnana with external data feedback from the mobile suit. Normally, the data would be sent directly to the brain however with the Type Revival, it is evenly spread throughout the body to reawaken the sleeping cells, thus acting as the 'reset' required. Unfortunately, the system isn't perfect. Doing it twice on the same body risks a 99% chance the cells falling apart even after if it was put into deep sleep and the Alaya-Vijnana itself has a chance of breaking down so the revival process can only be done once per body. Relatively speaking, the revival process IS successful. But... "

Dr. Linda continued, "There is a catch. Which is the brain. Although most of the brain is in tact, the person itself had no consciousness, no will of their own. Not to mention, increasing the load of the data gives a 99% chance of damaging the brain cells."

"That I know," Nobunaga rested his feet onto his desk. "That was why in the new Alaya-Vijnana that you two made, there is an AI system that sends brainwave-like signals directly to their cranial nerves. Well, they still have no will on their own but thanks to this, we are able to control them by giving them voice commands or remotely. Not to mention, they're all connected to a single network which makes remotely controlling them simultaneously even easier. Simply put, it's very convenient. Thanks to that, our business is going great too."

He got up from his chair and walked over to his shelf full of prized possessions nearby. He lightly touched the glass door covering it with the tip of his fingers. "'Human Dust,'" he said, "Just like stardust, they are able to grant any wish. However, in the end, dust is dust." He turned his front to the two doctors, "So, how is that boy's consciousness restored?"

Dr. Karl answered, "Through the tests that we ran on him yesterday, we found nothing of note from the boy that differed from the other subjects. Which means, the only plausible explanation was the Mobile Suit we used for his revival. And it seemed that we were right."

Dr. Linda passed the chart she was holding to the Chief who took it.

"ASW-G-54 Gundam Murmur. This mobile suit utilises a special frame called the, 'Gundam Frame'. It's one of the weapons Gjallarhorn produced for the Calamity War," explained Linda. 

"Huh? The Calamity War?" Asked Nobunaga. "So basically, the Mobile Suit is over 300 hundred years old?" 

"Yes. The Alaya-Vijnana System works by linking the pilot's senses to the Mobile Weapon. In other words, the more human-like the weapon, the more effective it becomes. The Gundam Frame was designed with such emphasis in mind. That was why, when we revived Hush Middy, he was able to regain his consciousness. The Gundam Frame has a very unique data feedback that was able to reactivate his consciousness and re-linked it with the rest of his body."

"Eh~? Is that so?" Nobunaga said in a way that doesn't sound like he was very amused with the idea. "I guess he was lucky enough to be able to have his own will, huh?"

"U-Um, Mr. Nobunaga...," Dr. Karl called him, a slight tone of nervousness could be heard in his voice, "What are we going to do Hush Middy and the Gundam Frame?"

"Hmm...," the Chief began stroking his chin and became deep in thought. "That Gundam Frame is pretty valuable since it's made for the Calamity War so we can sell it for a high price. As for Hush Middy... Well, it's a waste to kill him. So, let's just sell him as well. Since he has consciousness, we can just sell him at a higher price."

"Eh?" He was confused by the his answer. "Shouldn't we let him go?"

"Huh?!" He felt mocked by his suggestion, "Don't be ridiculous. He is a valuable asset of ours. Even if he has consciousness, the AI system still works, right? It'd be a waste to just let him go without any compensation. Plus, he wouldn't even be breathing without our help in the first place. So technically, he owe his life to us."

Dr. Karl clenched his fist when he heard the Nobunaga's answer. He was angered by his statement. "No, I disagree!" He said in an angry manner that seemed unusual to Linda, "He has a will of his own! We shoul-," before he could finish his sentence however, he received a hard blow to the face and fell to the ground with a thud. He was punched by none other than Nobunaga himself.

"Hey...," he said with a cold-toned voice, "You dare raise your voice against me, huh? Did you forget who took pity on you two and hired you after Gjallarhorn abandoned you, huh?!"

"Karl...!" Linda crouched down to check on him.

He continued, "In the first place, you have been toying with people's bodies, waking them up just to sell them but because this one brat can talk on his own, he's the only one who should be let go?! Ain't that hypocritical of you?!"

Dr. Karl's eyes widened in shock.

"Listen, the two of you! You have been using other people's bodies for your own benefits. You two are just as guilty as me. Don't try to act like the better person. Now, get back to work," he dropped the charts on the floor next them. 

Karl gritted his teeth but he knew he can't fight back. He can't afford to nor can he deny the Nobunaga's words. So, he simply nodded and answered with, "Yes, Mr. Nobunaga."


	5. Promise

It was extremely late at night. Hush was sitting on his bed with his arms hugging his knees, his face buried into them. The room was enveloped in darkness as the lights were shut off. He was holed up in this room since yesterday as the door was locked and there was no way of opening it from the inside. 

"What are they going to do with me?" He wondered.

He glanced over at Lily who was sleeping soundly. She still haven't acknowledged his existence at all let alone try and talk to him. She was just incredibly silent that it felt as if there was no one there with him. 

That was when he felt a strong strange tingling sensation inside of his head. Without warning his hand and legs started moving and he got off the bad.

"Eh?!" He said, surprised and confused. Then, his legs started moving towards the door.

"W-What is this...?! Why is my body...?" Thought Hush.

The door to the room slid opened and Hush exited. His body then started walking through the hallway.

Why was this happening? Where is he going? He couldn't helped but ask himself those questions. He tried moving his own limbs by himself but it only resulted in a purposeless struggle. 

Luckily however he could still move his head. He decided to glance back as he had heard footsteps behind him and saw that Lily was following him as well. He thought of asking her what's happening but knew that there was no point in doing so. Instead, he decided to see where his was body taking him.

A few minutes after, he found himself in front of the infirmary aka Dr. Yamato and Dr. Houseki's office. The door slid opened and he entered along with Lily. The two walked over and stood 1.5m away from Linda who was standing near a desk. Karl was sitting at it in front of a pc. 

That was when Hush felt that his body was finally free. He started moving each and every one of his limbs and breathed a sigh a relief. That was a very unpleasant expression for him. 

"Hush," she called him as she went behind him. He tried telling her what just happened in a polite manner, "Dr. Houseki. My body was moving on its own just now...,"

Linda grabbed onto his shoulders and gently pushed him along to her desk. "Sorry," she said, "We had no choice but to control your body."

"C-Control my body?" He asked, confused but Linda merely answered with, "Sorry, we'll explain later." Once Hush was at the desk, she pointed to the seat next to it and said, "Sit."

"O-Okay," when Hush sat down, Lily took a Alaya-Vijnana port and connected it on his back. Then, she took a cable that was connected to Karl's PC. At the end of said cable, there was an Alaya-Vijnana connector. She connected the cable to the port.

Hush felt yet another tingling sensation inside his head but this time it was not as strong.

"I'll go work on Lily," said Linda to Karl. He replied, "I'm counting on you."

Linda proceeded to do the same thing on Lily as she did with Hush, connecting her to a PC at a nearby desk via an Alaya-Vijnana cable.

Hush glanced over at Dr. Karl and listened to the loud clicking sounds of his keyboard as he typed away with great focus. He seemed busy which was why Hush didn't want to be rude and interrupt him. Plus, he was promised an explanation later anyway.

A few moments later..., "Alright, I've successfully disabled his AI System," said Karl aloud. "Did you disconnect Lily from the lab's network yet, Linda?"

"I was done a long time ago!" She jokingly bragged to him. Karl let out a light giggle, "Is that so?" He said with a gentle smile.

"Um, Dr. Yamato," Hush called him, "Is it okay if I ask for an explanation, now?"

Karl turned his attention to him, "That's right I haven't tell you yet, have I? Sorry about that," Karl moved himself along with his seat and stopped in front of Hush, facing him directly. "But before that... Let me thank you, Hush Middy."

"Eh? Thank me...?"

"Yeah. Because of you, I realised something important," he said in a serious expression. "Before coming here, me and Linda worked for Gjallarhorn."

"'Gjallar... horn'?"

"Yes. They are best known as the keepers of the world's order. And we were researchers under them, responsible for researching the Alaya-Vijnana in secret. Basically, that thing on your back."

Hush glanced at his back, at his Alaya-Vijnana. In a reserved tone, he said, "I see. It's called an Alaya-Vijnana, huh?" 

"Yeah. It has the power to combine man and mobile weapons as one by directly loading its data for the brain to process, allowing for high combat capabilities. The purpose of us researching the Alaya-Vijnana was to create the perfect Alaya-Vijnana system. And we did just that, 10 years ago. We created a monster, no, a demon using an officer of ours. He was in a vegetative state and using the system on him was the only way we could save his body. I tried my hardest to convince myself that it was the right thing for me to do, that I would be saving him, that I was doing it for his sake but in truth, I was actually having fun. Experimenting on someone's body, Playing with it as I will... I was entertained by the idea of those activities. As if I was... Addicted to it. I started becoming scared the more I realise it," Karl looked at the palm of his hands with a terrified expression, full of remorse. Hush was rendered speechless by Karl's words but did not interrupt and simply waited for him to continue his story.

"Even after I got fired from Gjallarhorn, I didn't change," Karl continued. "That was why I came here. Listen, Hush," he lightly grabbed onto his shoulders, "You were found in a near death state on a battlefield inside a mobile suit." 

That was when Hush realised, that familiarity he felt while he was inside a mobile suit's cockpit now made sense, he was a former Mobile Suit pilot. 

"Your body wasn't able to be healed by the Medical Nanomachines. Best they could do was stall the necrosis process for a period of time. Which was why, we put you inside the MOURN, Maintenainer of Organisms for Upcoming Revival, a machine that was able to preserve your body by putting it in deep sleep."

Hush was surprised by the news. He said in a silent tone, "I was supposed to die...? My body was preserved?"

"Yeah. After being hired here, Nobunaga Willford, the owner of this laboratory helped in stealing the entire lab equipment and the MOURNs so that me and Linda could create the Alaya-Vijnana Type Revival. The MOURN's deep sleep process was irreversible so we had to use the Type Revival to instead wake up those who are sleeping by overloading their body with data. Out of all of them, only you have gained consciousness."

"Excuse me...?" He said, surprised, "What do you mean...?"

"It is as I said. The Type Revival isn't perfect. Whenever we revive someone, they don't have consciousness, no will, just like walking corpses. They were dubbed Human Dust by Mr. Nobunaga."

"Then, that means Lily is...!"

"Yeah, she is the same as the rest. The only reason she's able to move was because of the AI system we installed inside of her Alaya-Vijnana. We couldn't increase the data feedback any more as it has a 99% chance of damaging the cells instead of restoring consciousness. The only reason why you have consciousness was because of the unique data feedback you received from Murmur."

"I see..."

"However, Mr. Nobunaga only saw people like Lily as mere assets. He has been making a living out of selling Human Dusts. And he plans to sell you too."

"What?!" The idea of it sounded so outrageous to Hush, so much so that it angered him. "How can he be so cruel and do whatever he want with other people's bodies?!" He said in an angry yet reserved voice. 

"I am the same as him, Hush. I contributed to his cause, and I was entertained by it too. I wonder... How did I live by myself all this time?"

"Dr. Yamato...," Hush called his name but couldn't say anything else. He could see that Karl's words had a point to them. If he and Linda hadn't make the Human Dusts, they wouldn't even have this problem in the first place. He was only able to hung his head down. 

"Which was why... I'm gonna end it all here, along with my sins."

"What do you mean...?"

"Thanks to you, I realised that this farce have to be stopped. This place is rigged to blow with my time bombs in about two hours. I'm gonna kill everyone here. Mr. Nobunaga, me, my co-workers, Human Dust and those inside the MOURN."

"You're gonna kill everyone and yourself...?"

"It's better than letting them be enslaved and treated like garbage. Mr. Nobunaga, me and my co workers, we're all responsible for this incident. If I kill everyone here, no one will have to suffer and no will cause others any suffering. It's the right thing to do."

Hush gritted his teeth. He yet again could not argue with Karl as he had made a good point. He muttered," You're right..."

"But don't worry, you we have already planned an escape for you and Lily. We hired a mercenary group to help escort and guard you so you can safely escape. Take Murmur with you."

Hush couldn't help but feel touched by Karl's. He clenched his fist and did the next best thing he could think of. He bowed his head down and said in the most polite manner ever, "Thank you for everything, Dr. Yamato."

"No no, I was only doing what I should. Or rather... What I was supposed to do a long time ago."

Hush lifted his head up and saw that there was a sad smile on his face. Suddenly, the smile shifted to his usual gentle one as he said, "I know! Instead of thanks, how about we make a promise?"

"A promise?"

"Yeah. Promise me that you'll escape safely, Hush," Karl showed his fist to Hush with his pinky sticking out only to get a confused look from him.

"Oh, this is called a pinky promise. Each of the person involved in making the promise locked each other's pinky together to signify that a promise has been made."

"I see...," Hush said before making a fist with his thumb sticking out. With the smile still on his face, Karl locked Hush's thumb with his own. He asked Hush, "So? What do you promise?"

Hush held his chin up as he said the words, "I... I promise to escape safely."

"That settles it!"


	6. Escape

In the infirmary, there was a vent above a cabinet full of medications. Karl and Linda had removed the cover and had placed a chair in front of the shelf so that Hush and Lily can use it. They explained to Hush that the vent directly lead to the storage room on the lower floor where there will be someone waiting for him. From there, they have to escape with Murmur through the glass ceiling.

The four stood near the shelf with Karl facing Hush and Linda facing Lily.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Said Karl.

"Yes," answered Hush. "Murmur is now your responsibility, Hush. Make sure to take good care of it." "I understand. I promise," he answered in a confident yet reserved manner. Karl gently smiled at him, "Good." "I'm grateful for this, Dr. Yamato," he said as he bowed his head down. 

"You...," he said in disbelief, "I just said not to thank me, right?"

"Huh?" asked Hush, "But I technically didn't thank you, I was only showing my gratitude."

"Isn't that basically the same thing?!" He said in a jokingly serious tone. The two started giggling. 

Hush then could see that Linda was softly touching Lily's left cheek with her right hand but as usual, Lily only had an emotionless face. Linda let out a sigh and said with a sad smile, "I wished I was a better sister to you. Then, you wouldn't have turned out like this."

"S-Sister?" Hush said, surprised by the sudden revelation. "Lily is your sister, Dr. Houseki?"

"Yeah. Our parents left us to to die when we were young. We were poor and they couldn't afford to feed us. We only had each other. So, I worked my ass off for both of our sakes and was able to put her in school. But... Ended growing apart as a result...," a look of sadness waved over her. "Then, without warning, she got involved in a traffic accident. That was about 8 years ago... I still regret what happened but I can't exactly re-do the past now, can't I?" Her expression of sadness changed into a bittersweet smile.

"I see...," Hush said, looking down with a gloomy look. Linda noticed this and almost immediately said, "Alright alright, sad time is over. Go and get out of here. You've got a promise to keep, right?"

Hush directly meet with her eyes, he can't help but feel guilty for having to leave them behind. He simply nodded at her question.

Linda let out a sigh before a smile formed on her face, "Listen, Hush. Lily now belongs to you." 

"To me...?" 

"Yeah. Which is why you should always protect her, got it?!" She raised her voice with that last sentence. 

"Y-Yes!" Hush replied in a reserved yet serious tone. 

"Promise me!" 

"I promise!" 

Satisfied with his answer, she continued, "Good. Listen, you can control her actions using voice commands. Go ahead and tell her to climb up the vent." 

Hush looked at Lily and decided to try it out. He said to her, "Lily, can you climb up that vent and enter it?" 

"Command confirmed. Commencing," she climbed the stool and then the shelf. Then, she crawled inside the vent. "It worked...," thought Hush. 

If you don't wanna use the commands, you can use this instead," Linda handed a hand-sized remote control to Hush. He reached for it only to stop halfway as he didn't feel comfortable about the idea of controlling someone using a remote, using voice commands felt more appealing and natural. "Sorry but...," before Hush could finish his sentence, she took his hand and placed the controller in it, "Take it. Just in case. Plus you can't summon her unless you use this."

Hush reluctantly took the controller and stored it inside the pocket of the dark grey jacket that was worn over his bare muscular body, given to him by Karl.

"I'll be going now. Goodbye. It was nice meeting you, two." 

"Just go already, Hush," said Linda. "You have a promise to keep, right? Or rather, three promises." "I understand. I'll be going, now. "Don't forget to close the vent with the cover," said Karl." "Yeah," he answered. 

Hush climbed onto the stool and then onto the shelf. He saw that Lily's... Uh... Bottom was blocking the entrance. Slightly red-faced, he asked Lily to move forward a bit so he could enter to which she did.

"You sure you don't wanna escape with them, Linda?" Asked Karl.

Linda merely smirked when she heard his question, "You said it yourself, right? Your co-workers are just as guilty for being involved. Hell, I helped create the Type Revival. I'm just as guilty as you are, Karl."

"I see."

The moment Hush set his hand inside the vent however was when a large banging was heard at the other side of the room's door followed by a loud shouting of a a deep voice belonging to an old man, telling them to, "Open the door this instant!" This threw all three of them into a panic. 

Hush hastily climbed inside the vent.

"The stool!" Karl whispered to Linda. She quickly took it to move it at a nearby desk while he went to the control panel next to the door.

Hush was about took to tell Lily to move but that was when he realised he didn't close the vent yet. He quickly turned back around and saw it on the shelf.

However, Karl was about to press the button that would unlock the door. Hush quickly reached for the vent cover.

Then, the door to the infirmary slid opened. Nobunaga entered just as Hush pulled the vent cover in place.

However, a threatening aura could be felt as Karl and Linda walked back to their desk. Hush could see what followed after the Chief was 4 Human Dusts, each with a rifle strapped around their shoulders. Even though Hush wasn't in any direct danger since he was not noticed, he felt his body frozen in place. 

"Good evening, Dr. Yamato, Dr. Houseki," Nobunaga's deep old man voice was colder than ever.

"G-Good evening, Mr. Nobunaga." Karl greeted him back. "What brings you here so late at night? Aren't supposed to be asleep?"

"Yeah... I'm supposed to," he the said in the same tone as before. "However, I wasn't able to. You see, there was a feeling of uncertainty nagging at my head, annoying me at every second. So, just to get rid of it, I decided to check the security footage and what do I find? My two valuable assets were being controlled and lead to your office. Then, I find out that that these were no longer connected to the lab's network. Why is that, I wonder?"

"No idea," Linda said jokingly with a grin. 

Nobunaga didn't like the idea of her joke, "Aim at them." The four Human Dusts pointing their rifles at the two of them with no delays.

"Answer me. Where is Hush Muddy and Lily Houseki!?"

"They aren't here," Karl answered. "They're long gone, far away from this rotten place."

"Ha," said Nobunaga suddenly. "Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahahahahahahha," he bursted into a fit of laughter. However, this clearly contradicted his angry face and the veins that are slightly bulging out as a result.

"Shoot him!" He commanded them. Seconds after they pointed their rifle at him, several flashes of light can be seen followed by the sound of bullets being launched and hitting every bit Karl's body.

Consumed by shock, Hush quickly covered his mouth to prevent himself from shouting. He could only watch in horror at the scene of him being shot to death as he was enveloped in sadness and anger.

Karl's body fell to the ground, surrounded by a pool of blood. Bullet holes can be seen showing through his back. His formerly pristine lab coat, now dyed in the blood of a righteous traitor.

All Hush could feel right then and there was the urge to murder him. He felt his body being controlled by this urge but he didn't care. His hand reached for the vent cover. The tip of his fingers were about to touch it. 

Suddenly, he stopped. 

"Promise me that you'll escape safely, Hush," those words began uttering themselves in his head. That's right, he made a promise. He can't afford to give in to those feelings of anger and do something so reckless.

He clenched his fist tightly. "I'll... Definitely keep our promise," thought Hush. "I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!" 

He turned around and told Lily to, "Move to the side a bit so I can get in front of you."

"Command accepted. Commencing," she leaned her body to the side before Hush moved in front of her.

"Command completed." 

"Follow me."

"Command accepted. Commencing."

Every time Hush took a step forward, Lily does exactly the same.

A minute after, Hush arrived at a spot where the vent went directly down. He looked down on it and it doesn't seem like that long of a fall. He opted to try and touch the bottom of it with his feet and fortunately, he reached it. So he dropped his other leg down before standing up, crouching and going back on all fours. Then, he crawled forward to quickly to give Lily some space to move. Once she did, the two continued moving. 

A few moments after, they arrived in front of another vent cover. He observed the surroundings of it and came to the conclusion that it was indeed the storage room as there were a bunch of stuff in it and that it was safe to just jump out as there was nothing dangerous on the floor.

He repositioned his body so that his feet would touch the vent. He gave it a hard kick and the vent cover flew with seemingly little to no effort. He 'launched' himself out of the vent and landed perfectly on his feet.

Suddenly, he felt a sudden pressure on his shoulders, causing his whole body to lose its ballance, eventually resulting in him falling flat on the ground. That pressure was none other than Lily herself. 

"O-Ow...," he said silently. 

He lifted his face up so that he would able to tell Lily to get off of him. 

Without warning, he felt the front part of a pistol's barrel being pushed against his forehead. 

"A-A gun?!" Thought Hush, surprised. He then heard a rough yet very feminine voice saying, "Who the hell are you?" Hush moved his head slightly to see who it was.

It was a person wearing a black leather jacket and jeans alongside some shades on the face. He could see that this person has purple hair. Going through by the voice, he assumed that this person was female. Not to mention, she was not wearing a lab coat and was actually speaking properly which convinced him that this person was part of the mercenary group that Karl mentioned. He quickly decided to introduce himself. "I-I'm Hush Middy." He then pointed to Lily who was still sitting on him, "This girl is Lily Houseki."

"Oh, so you two are the cargo, huh?" She pulled her gun away from him.

"Lily, please get off me."

"Command accepted," Lily got off him and stood up.

Hush stood up as well and began clearing the dust off of his jacket. He turned his attention to the woman with shades who was wiping her gun against her jacket. He said to her, "You are here to pick us up, right?"

"Can't you tell already?" She remarked in a rough-manner.

This however did not stop Hush from being polite. He extended his hand to her, "Um... Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Huh?" She said that as if she had been ridiculed. "Why do I have to tell you my name?"

"Well...," he said as he tried searching for the right words. "It'd be nice to know."

The woman in shades let out a sigh and stored her gun away. She took off her shades and shook her head to get rid of excess sweat. Hush could now see her face. She looked rather pretty but also young, like was in her late teens. 

Her eyes met up with his. She introduced herself, "My name is Almiria Bauduin."


	7. Pilot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made two small changes to the chapters. Here they are:  
> \- The Chief is now reffered to by his name. Because the name, "The Chief" is wayyyy too cool to give to him. It's a waste on him.  
> \- Opening paragraph of chapter 6  
> \- The Goodbye scene in Chapter 6

Hush and Almiria had slightly opened the door to the storage room and peeked out the small gap. There were several Human Dusts roaming around, each and every one of them had a rifle. The two backed out and gently closed the door.

"Tch," said Almiria, "Those guys are such pains in the ass. They're everywhere. We can't get to Murmur this way."

Hush who had told her about the Karl's plan to escape with Murmur through the lab's black glass ceiling agreed with her, "Yeah, we need a plan."

Almost immediately, Almiria said, "Here," and tossed him two pair of shades. "Wear that," she said as she put on hers. "Give that her as well."

"Uh... What are we gonna do?"

Almiria showed her left hand that was holding three stun grenades. "Stun grenades. As soon as I throw one, we'll make a run for it. You start up and pilot the Murmur. As for her, she is on guard duty," she tossed her pistol at him which he frantically caught in time. 

"Understand?"

"Y-Yeah, I understand," said Hush, surprised that she was able to come up with a plan in such a short time.

"Shoot the Human Dusts, huh?" Thought Hush as he stared at the pistol. He didn't really like the idea of making Lily shoot other people. 

"What's wrong?" Almiria asked him after he stood still for a full 3 seconds, staring at her. 

"N-No. It's impressive that you could come up with such a plan on such a short time."

"Huh?!" She said as if she was ridiculed, "Are you stupid? Anyone can come up with a plan this."

"Oh... I see..."

"Now, get to work. You're wasting valuable time!"

"I got it!" He answered in a serious tone and expression.

He took a deep breath and resolved himself as he walked over to Lily. While the option of him being the gunner is plausible there are two risks that comes with it. 1) He wasn't sure whether he'd have the resolve to kill people and 2) Even if he does, that doesn't guarantee that he'll be a great shot. 

Hush showed her the items, "Lily, wear the shades and equip the gun, please."

"Command accepted, commencing," she wore the shades and equipped the gun, just as Hush instructed. "Command completed." 

"Listen, Lily. As soon as Miss Almiria throws the flash bang, we're gonna make a run for Murmur. While doing so, I need you to protect us, got it?"

"Command accepted."

Minutes after, the three gathered beside the door. Almiria opened the door slightly to check for the perfect place to throw the grenade. 

Once she did, she asked Hush for confirmation, "Ready?" Hush nodded, "Yes."

"On 3. 1... 2... 3!" Almiria swung the door open in a swift motion. She quickly pulled the pin and threw the stun grenade. It landed in the middle of the hangar with a thud, attracting the attention of the Human Dusts and causing them to look at it. The grenade exploded and a strong flash of light followed after which blinded them. That was the signal that told them to start sprinting.

As they set their foot inside the hangar, several unblinded Dusts pointed their rifles at them. Lily immediately noticed them and began shooting at them, hitting them every single one of her target in their vitals organ. Hush was amazed by the precision of her aim.

As she was dealing with them, several Dusts from right began shooting at their legs to which they did their best to avoid. "Going to paralyse us, huh?" Thought Almiria as before pulling the pin of another stun grenade and throwing at the head nearest Dust which made him flinch. A second after the grenade fell to the ground, it exploded and another flash of light emerged from within.

They were nearing the set of ladders that would lead to the platform that will allow them to enter Murmur's cockpit. That was when a Dust emerged at them from behind the left, about to shoot them. Her assault attempt however was quickly put to a stop when Lily put two bullets in her head.

Once they were at the ladder, Almiria turned around before once again throwing another stun grenade at the head of the nearest Dust.

She turned back around to find that Hush and Lily were already climbing the stairs and joined them. A moment later, they reached the platform and sprinted to Murmur.

When they arrived, Hush immediately hit the small physical switch located inside the recession on Murmur's torso before removing his jacket.

The middle section of the torso's top armour section slid forward. The cockpit lifted up and the top cover opened up. The three climbed inside. Hush sat in the pilot seat while Almiria and Lily sat on the arms rests in a curled up position.

Hush leaned back into the Alaya-Vijnana connector, allowing it to connect to the port in his back that was already equipped beforehand. A sudden surge of data entered his brain which overwhelmed him for a brief moment. The computer screen in front of him booted up, showing the words, 'ASW-G-54 Gundam Murmur'. The large flat main camera monitor located above the computer booted up as well, showing the three a view through the Gundam's eyes. Hush pressed a few buttons which closed the cockpit and lifted it down. The top armour skid back into place.

"Ugh, it's so cramped...," complained Almiria.

Hush grabbed onto the two control sticks and uttered the words, "Begin retinal projection."

Above the monitor, there was thin and flat green which was a projector. A thin green line of light emerged from it and projected a direct view of the Gundam's eyes directly onto Hush's.

Hush took a deep breath. "Let's go." Murmur's mechanical bird-like wings spread out. The Thermal Phase Transition thrusters on his backpack and wings were activated. A jet of light blue flames shot out, propelling them up at a fast rate.

The loud sound of glass shattering can be heard from anywhere inside the lab as Murmur broke out through the glass ceiling.

As they flew up to the night sky, Almiria told Hush to, "Head west," as, "My ship is there."

"Roger." Hush repositioned themselves and headed west.

After a few minutes of flying above the barren desert of Earth, Hush caught sight of a ship in the distance. On it, there was a red logo in the shape of a sunflower only it appeared to be sharper and its petals are separated from each other. "Is that your ship, Miss Almiria?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "That's the Hakofune, NOA-0133 Hachinohari. Activate LCS."

"Understood," shortly after activating LCS and sending a transmission request to the ship, a video transmission was established and was put to display on the main camera monitor.

A woman who seemed to be in her mid 20s was shown. "Oh, milady!" She said in a delighted tone. "You have returned!"

"Yeah, Mary," answered Almiria. "Can you open the hangar door?"

"Right away!"

The hangar door to the Hachinohari opened up. Once Hush was near the entrance, he switched on the lower output Ahab Thrusters and turned off the other ones, allowing him to gently flew inside the hangar. However, he did not turn them off yet as Almiria told him, "Don't land just yet." 

A guy with two signal light sticks walked in front of them. He began signaling them with the light sticks as he gestured them to the docking station.

"Follow his instructions."

Hush did as told and successfully docked on to one of the stations. Hush proceeded to open the cockpit.

Almiria stood up and jumped onto the platform in front of them. She let out a sigh of relief as she stretched her arms. "Finally free!"

"You weren't even in there for that long," Hush heard a voice near them said, "Stop complaining about every single thing. It's annoying." He could see that on the platform, a few feet away from them was a man in his early 20s with spiky orange hair, with a hardened expression on his face. His left hand was in a cast. 

"Oh shut up, Raito," Almiria replied in a dignified manner. "You should be grateful that I even listened to your request."

This line angered Raito, "What's that?! The Boss of Kekkadan is me! You're just the Deputy Boss! You're supposed to shut up and listen to me." 

"That's right, I'm just the Deputy Boss. The generous Deputy Boss who listened to your request and helped you break him out. The generous Deputy Boss who helped you pay for this ship. Or did you forget that, Raito Sky?" 

"Tch," Raito clicked his tongue out of frustration. "You're not cute at all. Maybe that's why you're still single."

"What was that?!" She said, enraged, "I am the daughter of the Bauduin family. I can get engaged to anyone I wish."

"Shut up. You talk about being the daughter of the Bauduin family but you always like a fly, very annoying."

"Better than being a rat like you."

The two gave each other intense hateful glares. "Hmpf!" They said simultaneously. Almiria then walked past him and went down the ladder. 

Raito looked at Hush. When their eyes meet, he said to him, "Hey, what are you waiting for? Get out of there."

"Oh... Yes!" Hush answered. He shut down Murmur using the computer screen, allowing him to be disconnected from the Alaya-Vijnana. He climbed out of the cockpit and onto the torso. 

He glanced back at the cockpit and saw that Lily was still in there. He turned around and extended his hand out to her. "Let's get out, Lily."

Lily gave his hand a brief look, "Command accepted," and held his hand. He pulled her hand and they both landed on the platform.

"You haven't changed, Hush," Raito suddenly said, "Well, appearance-wise at least. I thought for sure you died back on Mars."

"Eh?" Hush said, confused by his statement.

"If you're alive, then does that mean Mikazuki and Akihito are too?"

That was when, Hush felt a throbbing pain inside his head. He suddenly fell on his knees.

Raito was surprised by this, "Hey hey, what's wrong?!"

"Mikazuki...," Hush muttered. "Gah...!" It felt as if someone was entering his head, trying to tell him something. 

Suddenly, the pain stopped and Hush began panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, are you okay?!" Raito asked in a worried tone.

That was when the blaring sound of an alarm was heard throughout the hangar.

Mary announced the following through the speakers, "Ahab wave detected! A ship is approaching us!" 

Raito extended his hand to Hush, "Follow me to the bridge."


	8. Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to rework this chapter because it felt super rushed upon re reading it.

As soon as they entered the bridge, the loud deep voice of an old man shouting was heard, "Give me back my assets!" Shown on the main monitor was a video transmission of none other than Nobunaga himself, wearing the same angry scowl. However, it immediately melted into a creep grin the moment his eyes focused on Hush and Lily. "There you are, Hush Middy," he said in a delightfully menacing tone. "I see that Lily Houseki is with you as well."

Hush's expression hardened. He moved a step back towards Lily with his left arm extended to the front fo her body, showing his intent to protect her.

"I suggest you to stop your pointless struggle and surrender yourself to me, right this instant. After all, both of you are rightfully my properties. I wouldn't want my precious Human Dusts to be hurt, after all." 

Hush's body shivered when his sentence was finished. The thought of the bodies of several people belonging to such a creep and that they were valued as nothing more than an asset, a merchandise to be sold off sickened him. He merely glared at Nobunaga in response.

"Still resisting? Dr. Yamato and Dr. Houseki are dead. Do you really want more people to wind up dead because of you?"

Hush gritted his teeth. He regretted the fact that he wasn't able to save them. They both died because of him. If he doesn't surrender now, more people would end up with the same fate. That was when he asked himself the question, "Why shouldn't I surrender myself?" After all, the lab was already rigged to explode. If time were wasted fighting back against Nobunaga, it would mean keeping him here. If he surrender right then and there, Nobunaga would be killed by the explosion and no one's lives have to be risked. That's right, he just has to go. That choice seemed became more and more appealing to Hush by the second. Of course, he knew that Lily had to be surrendered as well which was why he intended on negotiating. "Sorry, Dr. Yamato," he thought. "I'll have to break our promise. My life... Is not worth more than these people!"

Hush opened his mouth, ready to spell out his intentions, "I...," before he could finish his sentence however, "Hey...," Raito cut him him off, "What kind of shit have you been spouting up until now? 'Do you really want more people to wind up dead because of you'? That's funny. Did you really think we'll go down that easily? Just who the hell do you think you are, you rotten shitbag?!"

"'R-Rotten shitbag'?!" Nobunaga replied, baffled by his statement. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!"

Raito answered without missing a beat, "A rotten shitbag of a shitty rotten establishment, that's who. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Why you...!"

"Anyway! We don't intend on handing them over to you. If you still want them, you'll have to go through us Kekkadan, first."

"Tch! I'll make you regret this! I'll take back my assets along with yours! Without fail!"

"Bring it on. If it's a war you want, we'll give you war. I... Won't let you repeat the history of Human Debris."

The transmission abruptly ended.

"All hands, level one battle station!" Raito commanded them.

Almost immediately, Hush spoke up to Raito in protest, "Wait please! Why did you say that?!"

"'Why'? We Kekkadan had already accepted Dr. Yamato's job offer, we'll have to finish it. Plus, he already paid us in advance. Can't exactly return the money now that he's dead. Besides, we're not about to lose to some narcissistic asshole."

"Please reconsider," Hush urged him. "Just let me surrender myself. That way, no one will have to die because of me. Not to ment-"

"Hey," He said in a cold tone. "Did you really think we will die merely because of one person like you? Because if so, you're wrong. Don't underestimate us."

Hush merely hung his head down and stayed silent as he clenched his fist. The same look of regret was starting to form on his face. "I'm sorry...," he said softly. 

Raito let out a sigh and softly scratched his head. "Don't worry about it. It'll work out somehow. Have a seat over there. It's gonna get rough." Raito pointed to two empty seats nearby.

"I understand," replied Hush. He turned to Lily. "Let's go sit over there, Lily."

"Command accepted."

"It's definitely more comfortable to sit inside your own cockpit alone," Almiria said as soon as she closed the cockpit hatch. She... Uh... adjusted her leather top that exposed her back so she could connect to the Alaya-Vijnana installed. 

"Milady," Mary called her. "6 enemy mobile suit units confirmed." 

"That old geezer is that desperate to get them back, huh?" 

"There's a possibility he plans to take over the ship too." 

"More than likely." Almiria let out a scoff, "This is why greedy old men are idiots," she said with a snarky grin. 

"Bring Kimaris down!" The head of the maintenance said to the workers. 

The claw arm that was holding Gundam Kimaris up laid it face down onto the catapult below. The arms on the catapult secured it. 

As the whole catapult lifted down into the launching deck, two doors above them closed the exit hole that the catapult left. 

"Operating A-lock," said Mary, "Opening up the catapult hatch." 

The catapult hatch located a few feet in front of her lifted down and out, creating a railway for the catapult. 

"Catapult on standby. Ready whenever you are." 

"Almiria Bauduin, Gundam Kimaris Vidar, heading out!"

The catapult moved out at a fast rate to the end of the railway. Kimaris was successfully launched.

Almiria equipped the Drill Lance stored on the backpack and dashed towards the enemy units.

"Joe's, Miguel's and Eddie's Shidens have launched!" 

"Alright!" Said Raito. 

Meanwhile, Hush sat still on his seat. He was still feeling guilty but some of it had disappeared after Raito's assurance. He took a deep breath and tried to distract himself by emerging himself in deep thought. That was when he remembered what happened to him earlier, "What was that pain I felt in my head?" He thought. "It felt like someone was trying to tell me something. Not to mention, 'Mikazuki', is that a person's name? It sounded so familiar..." 

This span of thought was immediately broken when Mary loudly reported. "Milady has engaged with the enemy!" 

A Graze headed flew to Almiria at full speed whilst spraying its rifle's bullets at her to which she successfully blocked against with left shield. Once the Graze got nearer, it stopped firing and swung its axe to her cockpit. She quickly guarded it with the lance. "Ho~? Heading directly at me with a Graze, huh? Bring it on!" Almiria said with a confident smile. 

She parried and activated the left knee drill before shoving it towards the cockpit. The Graze dodged and swung at the head. Almiria moved the drill lance to guard it. However, the direction of the swing at the last minute and went ahead towards the cockpit instead. The speed that the axe moved at almost made it looked like a blur. 

Almiria immediately moved the right shield in time for the axe to hit it. The impact of the axe was strong enough to get it stuck inside the shield. 

She took this opportunity and grabbed onto the Graze's shoulder to keep it in place and shoved the left drill knee inside the cockpit, blood splattering out as she did. The Graze fell down as soon as she let go. 

Almiria was surprised that she was beginning to sweat. "What was that just now?" Thought Almiria. "That was the basic speed... But how? It is only a Graze. Was it a custom spec one? No, it's most likely the pilot. 'Human Dusts', huh?" 

Before she could think about it any further, two units headed to her. 

"Milady has taken down an enemy unit!" Reported Mary. 

"Alright!" Raito said, glad to hear the news. "How are the others doing?" 

"Shit!" The whole bridge heard Joe said. "Sorry, boss! These guys are too strong! Their movements are too fast!" Added Miguel. 

"It's because they are Human Dusts!" Added Almiria. "The Type Revival is one of the factors stronger these guys' movements are reckless!" 

"H-Help me, boss!" Eddie screamed out. 

"Eddie?! What's wrong?!" 

Eddie sent the one-armed Graze he's fighting a full round of bullets as he swiftly moved back. The two units' nanolaminate armour were mostly scratched off with the Graze at the disadvantage. Despite being shot at, defenseless and having only an axe in hand, the Graze showed no signs of backing down, leaving Eddie in a panicked state. "Goddamnit! F-Fall down!" He screamed out. 

That was when his rifle stopped firing. He had ran out of billets. "Shit!" threw the magazine one and grabbed onto another. 

By then however... The Graze had already caught up to him. He looked at it with a terrified expression, "N-," What followed after was the loud of sound of metal clashing against each other. The Graze's axe had hit Eddie's cockpit, splitting up his body down the middle. 

"Eddie's life signal... Is lost. He's dead...," Mary said regretably. 

"No...," Raito muttered with a defeated voice. "No... Eddie... Eddie!"

Before Raito had anymore time to process it, Mary reported that, "Joe's and Miguel's Shidens are considerably damaged, Boss!" 

"Damn it!" Raito cursed with frustration. "Hey, can you two return?!" 

Joe replied with desperation, "W-We can't! They're not letting us escape!"

"Tch! Almiria, cover them!" 

"That's impossible! My hands are full dealing with two units right now!" 

"Shit! I'm coming! Hold on until then!" 

"But that...," before Mary could finish her sentence, Almiria cut her off, "Hey, don't be ridiculous! You expect to go out with your arm like that?" 

"It's only a scratch! I can..." 

"I'd hardly call a fully broken arm a scratch. These guys aren't to be underestimated. If you go out like that, you'll die." 

"Then, what should I do?! We don't have any pilots!" Raito started becoming desperate. If he doesn't do anything soon, more of his comrades will die. 

"Calm down, idiot!" Almiria scolded. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're the boss, aren't you?! You're supposed to man the bridge, right?! Everyone in that ship is counting on you. So calm down and think! Otherwise, how can you still call yourself a the boss?!" 

Almiria's words were enough to snap him out of it. He took a deep breath. "Yeah... You're right." He began searching through his brain for ideas. Reckless or not, it did not matter as long as it was enough. 

Suddenly however, "Wait," Hush said. He stood up from his seat, "I'll do it. I'll back them up." 

Hush took a deep breath as soon as the cockpit hatch closed. Although he did volunteered to kill the Human Dusts, he was actually anxious. Anxious of the act of killing them. "Can I do it?" He asked himself. "Can I really kill them? They're not even doing this of their own will." 

Suddenly, Hush remembered Karl's words, "If I kill everyone here, no one will have to suffer and no will cause others any suffering. It's the right thing to do."

"That's right... Dr. Yamato," thought Hush. "It's not about whether or not I think I can do it or not. I have to do it! I'll give them quick deaths. That way, no one will have to suffer. Not them... Or the people on this ship!" 

But then, Hush realised one more important thing. "Wait... 'Quick deaths'?" 

He activated LCS and was connected to the maintenance workers communications. "Um... Excuse me! I don't have any weapons. Do you have any that I can use?" 

The one who answered his question was a man whose face was completely concealed by a metal mask. He is the leader of the maintenance workers, known to them as the Chief. He spoke with a distorted yet discernable voice, "Yeah, we do. The semi-auto 135mm magnum dual pistols. The workers are already on it." 

"I see. Thank you." 

"No need for thanks, it is my job after all." 

The surface armour on Murmur's side waist thrusters were replaced by saturated dark blue holsters with the pistols attached. Additionally, there was a slot on the top and the bottom of each the holsters that held a magazine of 7 bullets. The design of the handguns themselves are reminiscent to that of the Desert Eagle. 

A claw arm grabbed onto Mumur and lifted it up before laying it face down on the catapult which secured it. The capatult then lifted down. 

"Operating A-Lock. "Opening up the catapult hatch. "Catapult on standby. Ready whenever you are." 

"Hush Middy, Gundam Murmur. Launching!" 

As soon as Murmur was launched, its wings were spread out. Hush dashed to the battlefield at incredible speed. 

A few moments later, he arrived. The first thing he saw was the scene of a Shiden in melee combat with a Graze. He equipped on the pistols. 

He was about to intervene whne he received an Ahab Wave reaction from a Mobile Suit heading towards him. 

He turned his attention towards it and saw a one armed-Graze heading towards him, the same one that killed Eddie. The Graze swiftly swung its axe towards Murmur's torso to which Hush quickly dodged before showing his right pistol to the Graze's cockpit. He pulled the trigger and a hole was left on the cockpit. The Graze fell down to the ground, having lost all of its power. 

Hush's grip on the control sticks were tightened. "Alright... With these guns, I can do it!" 

He set his sights on the duel between the Shiden and the Graze. 

The Shiden had its back facing him which meant that the Graze's cockpit was blocked. The next best thing for him to aim it would be the right shoulder which would get the Graze's attention. He dashed towards them as he aimed with one pistol and shot at it once. The impact from the shot was enough to break off a chunk of the nanolaminate armour from the shoulder pad. 

The Graze having been distracted pushed the damaged Shiden away. It aimed its rifle at Hush and began shooting at him. Hush quickly used his right wing to shield himself and headed straight to the Graze. Once near it, Hush repositioned himself so that his legs would be in front and kicked the Graze directly on the torso, flinging it back a distance. Hush aimed directly on the cockpit and took his shot. A hole was left in the cockpit followed by a spatter of blood. 

Hush could see that the damaged Shiden was still there and urged him to, "Please retreat!"

"I-I got it!" 

After Joe's retreat, Hush saw a Shiden being shot at in the distant. He immediately dashed off towards it and saw the Graze a good distance away. Once behind the Shiden, Hush shielded its body using his right wing. "Please retreat!" Hush said to the Shiden. 

Miguel, the pilot immediately retreated but not before thanking him, first. 

After the Shiden's escape, the Graze stopped firing as it had ran out of bullets. Hush took this opportunity to aim at the cockpit and took a shot. The Graze quickly dodged as it reloaded before spraying his rifle at Hush. 

With the left wing shielding him from the bullets, Hush dashed towards the it. Suddenly the rifle had stopped firing. By then, Hush was already directly in front of it. He moved the wing away and shoved the barrel of his right pistol onto the the cockpit. However, before he was able to pull the trigger, he noticed that the enemy had already pointed their rifle at his cockpit, ready to shoot. He moved back a bit and spun at a 360° with his left wing in front and right wing behind, completely shielding him from the bullets until the Graze truly ran out this time before shoving his left pistol directly onto the front of the cockpit. A loud bang heard was the large hole appeared in the cockpit. The Graze began falling to the ground. 

Miguel who was actually observing Hush's combat capabilities was amazed by them. His fast yet precise movements, the fluidity of it, the pace that he defeated the Graze at and finally... Those bird-like wings of his made him look like, "An angel," said Miguel suddenly. "His fighting style... Looks like an angel's." 

Hush dashed towards Almiria who was defending herself against two Graze's axe with her left drill knee and drill lance, leaving the top of their heads open. 

Hush took aim at the heads with both guns and shot at them two times in a row. The first round of bullets chipped off most of the nanolaminate, leaving the head exposed, the second round broke through the metal damaged the camera units.

Almiria parried both of them and shoved the drill lance into the cockpit of one of them. Hush aimed at the cockpit of the last one and shot it. The two units began falling to the ground.

Hush flew over to her. 

"Hey, I didn't need yo-," before she could finish her sentence, Hush asked her, "Are you okay, Miss Almiria?"

"O-Of course, I am. I'm not gonna let myself get killed in a place like this." 

That was when they both revived an order from Raito, "The enemy ship is retreating. Fall back, you two."

"You heard him. Let's go back to the ship, Hush." 

"Yes!"


	9. Supper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to keep y'all waiting

Hush and Almiria exited onto the platform after properly docking their Mobile Suits.

Almiria stretched her arms out and let out a sigh.

That was when Raito, who had waited for them walked on over. "Hush," he called him. "You alright?" 

"Yes. I'm fine, Mr. Raito.." 

"Thank you for helping. Also, I'm sorry," he bowed down slightly. 

"Eh?" Hush blinked once before continuing, "Apologise? For what?" 

"Well... I... Because of my incompetence, you had to be dragged into battle as well when I should've protected you. So... I'm sorry. You even avenged Eddie." 

"Don't say that, Mr. Raito. I volunteered because I didn't want else to die for my sake...," The blank expression he had slowly turned into a very subtle look of regret. 

"And I can't thank you enough for it. Really, thank you, Hush." 

Hush smiled slightly after releasing a sigh of relief. "I have to thank you too. Now... I get to keep my promises." 

"Promises?" Before Raito could ask him about it, Almiria suddenly interjected into the conversation, "Hey, where's my thanks?" She said those words in a prideful manner that rubbed Raito the wrong way. 

"Hmpf," He averted his gaze from her with an unpleasant expression. But he knew he still had to thank her. She did help after all. It's only proper work etiquette to do so. In an impolite manner, he said, "Thanks for your hard work." 

"Wait a minute," replied Almiria, "That was rather rude now, wasn't it? Do it in a more polite manner." 

"Shut up. I gave you your thanks. You don't have the right to be so demanding with your boss. Plus, you only did what you're supposed to do." 

"Oh, did I now?" She said with a smug face. "I'm surprised you can say that after the words of encouragement I gave you. Usually, the Boss is supposed to encourage his subordinates when they're feeling unconfident or if they're panicking, not the other way around." 

Raito's face became slightly redder. She got him there. "Tch. Fine," Raito politely said the words, "Thank you for your hard work." 

Almiria's smug smile widened, "See? That wasn't so hard. Now, apologise." 

Raito felt insulted by her request, "Huh?! Apologise?! For what?!"

Almira answered without missing a beat, "For being a pussy." 

Raito's face became as hard as comet, "Wha-," 

Almiria continued, "Sheesh, what kind of a Boss panics like that? A Boss is supposed to stay calm and lead his subordinates with a well thought-out plan." 

"S-Shut up! If I hadn't send Hush out, you would have been toast!" 

Almiria's expression hardened as she'd taken a bit of offence by his statement, "Even without this dull-looking guy's help, I would've been able to handle then just fine." 

"D-Dull...?" Hush said, surprised. He wasn't offended or anything, just surprised. 

"Eh~? Is that so?" Raito said smugly. "Hush, how was Almiria doing when you found her?"

Hush answered almost immediately in his usual blank expression and polite manner, "Miss Almiria was struggling defending herself against two Grazes so I destroyed their camera units and took out one while she took out the other." 

"Wow! Struggling against two Grazes?! That's so embarrassing!" 

"S-Shut up! I can handle them just fine even without him!" 

"If that was the case, you wouldn't have been struggling in the first place now, would you? Can't even handle Two Graze... And to think that you're the deputy officer, too! That's just embarrassing!" 

"At least, I didn't act like a pussy. Unlike you!" 

The two gave each other intense hateful before simultaneously looking away from each other and saying, "Hmpf!"

That was when, a loud explosion was heard which startled the three. 

"W-What was that?" Asked Raito. 

"The time bombs...," Hush muttered. 

The three of them immediately hurried over to the bridge to assess the situation better. 

When they entered, the first thing that they saw was the main monitor displaying a large quantity of smoke rising up in a certain area in the distance. 

"That...," said Hush. 

When Mary saw the three of them, she reported, "Oh, Boss! The explosion came from the Human Dust Laboratory." 

"Dr. Yamato's plan, huh?" Said Raito, a smirk was on his face. "What about Willford's ship?" 

"It would seem that Willford was retreating at a very fast pace, fast enough that he would actually be floating directly above the lab just a few minutes ago."

"Then that means...," Almiria said. 

"Dr. Yamato's plan was a success!" Hush said aloud with contained excitement. 

"Alright!" Raito cheered. The whole bridge suddenly turned into an uproar as each crewmember began cheering as well. 

But then, all of the cheering suddenly stopped. Why? A single noise had done it. A very loud one at that, almost comparable to the explosion. And that noise was...

"S-Sorry, everyone," Hush's face turned slightly redder as he apologised for his loud howling stomach. "I haven't eaten yet...," saying that line aloud made Hush feel a bit awkward. 

That was when a crewmember raised up his hand, "To be honest, me too." 

Another raised his hand, "Me too." 

Then another, "Me too!" 

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone at the bridge was saying they are hungry. 

Mary stood up from her seat. "Oh my! Then, I'll fix you all something up!" 

The whole bridge began cheering once again. 

Hush was sitting at the table in the cafeteria with a tray of food in front of him. Lily was sitting at his right. On the opposite side of the table, there was one guy who was silently eating his food. He had pale skin and black hair with bangs covering one of his eyes.

Hush had only been staring at the tray for the past minute in curiosity. His stomach was growling just a while ago as he had not eaten for the past few days. Hush was definitely hungry but..., "This is real food, huh?" He thought. This was actually Hush's first time seeing food since he woke up so he did not quite remember what real food was supposed to look like. But one thing for sure though, it looked and smelled delicious.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He felt someone suddenly grabbing onto his shoulders. "Not gonna eat?" When Hush turned to see who it was, he saw the face of someone of Hispanic descendant. Hush could feel a 'cool and friendly guy' vibe coming from him. "Yo!" He cheerfully said. "I'm Miguel Starcrosser. You are Hush Middy, right?"

Hush nodded, "Yes, I am."

"Wow, you're so polite. You should eat soon. Food like this tastes best when hot." He let go of his shoulders and sat beside him before grabbing the spoon on the tray. He took a bite out of the food, "Yum!" He said with joy. He glanced over at Mary who was working in the kitchen. "Delicious as always, Mary!" He complimented her while smiling.

Mary smiled back, "Oh my, thank you for the compliment."

Hush looked at him and looked back at the tray. "It's that delicious, huh?" He thought. He grabbed the spoon and took a small chunk of the food. He took a bite and was surprised by the world of flavour that he met. It was delicious, filled with many pleasant flavours. When Hush swallowed it went straight down. He could also feel his body warming up slightly. "It's delicious," He said. 

"Right?!" Said Miguel. "Oh but..." Miguel pointed to the person next to Hush , "Is she not gonna eat?"

Hush turned around to find Lily still staring at her food. He had forgotten to give her the command. "Lily, it's dinner. You should eat it."

"Command accepted," she took the spoon and began eating her dinner.

Hush softly smiled. He was about to finish eating when he heard something metallic being slammed on the table which surprised him. When he turned to look at the source of the noise, he found a metal tray of food. And behind it was Raito who had who was glaring at something in the direction behind them.

"Whoa, scary," whispered Miguel.

Hush turned to look at said direction and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Almiria was sitting at her table, glaring back at Raito with her tongue sticking out. Raito stuck his tongue back at her. 

"Hmpf!" The two simultaneously said as they averted their gaze from each other.

Raito sat down and began eating.

"You know, Boss," said Miguel, "Don't you think you two fight too often?"

Raito replied coldly, "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters. It happens a lot, after all." 

"Hmpf, it's all her fault for being so cheeky." 

Miguel let out a sigh, "So immature. It really wouldn't kill you two to try to act nice towards each other for once, you know."

"Shut up and eat your food."

"Tch, you're so cold, Boss. But... I have to say... Miss Almiria is one hot babe."

Raito was bewildered by Miguel's input, "Huh?! That woman is?!"

"Well, of course! She looks so pretty, her facial expressions are just, oh so sharp that it pierces my heart. And those proportions... She's just so damn thic- blurgg" Miguel's mouth was suddenly shoved with full of mashed potatoes by Raito. Miguel strongly but on the spoon out of surprise. Using every bit of his strength, Raito pulled the spoon out. "Shut your damn mouth," Raito commanded. "I don't want hear you ogling, especially about that woman, got it?!"

Miguel who had quickly chewed and swallowed the mashed potatoes replied, "I understand! You're so barbaric sometimes, Boss."

Raito ignored him and continued eating.

Miguel let out a sigh, "Fine," and continued eating. A few moments later however..., "I have to say though," Miguel suddenly spoke again, "You were impressive earlier, Hush."

"'Impressive'?" Asked Hush, a but surprised. "Me?"

"Well, of course! The way you fought... It was just fast and fluid yet graceful. If I were to describe it... It looked like an angel was fighting."

"'Angel'?" Hush was almost bewildered by Miguel's words. He never thought someone would describe him as an angel.

"Yeah! Isn't that right, Joe?!" Miguel said to the guy with the black bangs. "N-No," although he stuttered a bit, it didn't sound like he was afraid or cowardly to Hush or anything. It was just very deadpanned. "I don't think so."

"Eh? Why not? You were there too, right?"

"W-Well, I'll admit his fighting style was very fast but for one thing, his Mobile Suit didn't look very angel-like to me."

"You mean Murmur?" Hush said. 

"Y-Yeah. The colour of its body is too dark. Angels are supposed to have pure white clothings, after all."

"No, wait," Miguel replied. "Ignoring the colour, wouldn't you say the shape of the wings made it look very angelic-looking?"

"Hmm... W-Well, I guess so..."


	10. Nighttime Meeting

After dinnertime ended, Raito immediately went to his room and threw himself on the bed with his face firmly planted on his pillow. He began groaning into the pillow and rolled around in his bed, his face was pure red out of embarrassment for his actions earlier. 

"What kind of a Boss panics like that?! I was supposed to be the cool one leading the team! How did I mess up so badly?! Was it hard for Orga to stay level-headed the whole time as well?! It really didn't feel that way!" 

Suddenly, Raito stopped. He remembered something important. "Eddie...," he muttered under his breath. He rested his head on the pillow. His teeth and fists were clenched right. "I'm sorry, Eddie... I couldn't save you...," intense feeling of guilt began to overwhelm his entire body. He felt sadness and grief knowing that had he been a better boss, Eddie's life wouldn't have been forfeited. "Damn it all... Is this how Orga felt...?" 

Almiria entered her room with Mary following her from behind, "Oh, Milady. Must you fight with the Boss every single time?" 

Almiria immediately turned around, red-faced and said angrily, "It's his fault for being so damn sensitive! I was just teasing him. But then he went ahead and hurt my pride!" 

"If something of such a small degree counts as hurting one's pride then wouldn't that mean you hurt his pride first when you teased him?" 

Almiria was stunned by Mary's answer, "T-That..." 

"It's fine to give each other constructive criticism and all. After, one needs it to improve. However, you two's methods were simply childish and were not at all constructive. Am I wrong?" 

Almiria pouted and looked away from Mary, "No..." 

"Then, make sure to make up with the Boss later, alright?" 

Almiria let out a sigh, "Fine." 

Mary smiled, satisfied. "Then, I will be going now, Milady. Call me if you need anything." 

The room door closed after Mary exited. 

After changing into her night gown, Almiria sat on the bed, holding something in her hand. Something precious to her, something she had cherished even after all these years. And that something was the white cloth stained with McGillis Fareed's blood. 

The bloodstains were so old that it did almost lost all of its red colour. It however smelled nice as it had been sprayed with a disinfectant and a lavender spray, thus preventing it from giving off a horrid stench or pass any bacterias. 

Although, the item she held would be seen as morbid to anyone, she held it close to her chest as she laid down on the bed. "Macky...," she muttered his name in an affectionate voice. "I miss you..." 

Later that night... Hush had exited his assigned room and was currently at the kitchen, drinking a glass of milk as he couldn't sleep. After finishing it, washed the glass and walked out into the hallway. He started heading back into his room.

After a few minutes of walking, when he was about to pass the door that lead to the hangar, he noticed that it was open and there were lights poking out. It was closed when he went to the kitchen before. Although it may be because there were workers doing a late night maintenance, a strange curious feeling came over him. He decided to walk over to it and have a peek inside. 

The hangar was just your average ship hangar. There were stairs that lead to the lower levels from the entrance. On the docking bay, there were two damaged Shidens, Kimaris Vidar and Murmur. The lights were on but there was no life to be seen which struck Hush as strange. That is however until he noticed the shadow of a person, on the platform nest Murmur's torso.

Hush immediately recognised him as, "The Chief?" He thought. "What is he doing?" 

He thought he might be doing maintenence but no, the Chief was actually just standing there with his right hand resting on Murmur's chest. It was then he heard the Chief's voice speaking out however he couldn't quite make out the words. Hush wondered again, "What IS he doing?" His curiosity became stronger.

He decided to tip toe down the stairs whilst keeping his body down. After safely getting down the stairs, he quietly walked over to the ladder to the platform. That was when he can finally understand what the Chief was saying. He leaned his back against it and listened.

"It really has been over 300 years since I last saw you, huh? My old friend, Matthias," that was what Hush heard.

Hush became lost in a spiral of thoughts. "Over 300 years? What does that mean? Is he over 300 years old? Murmur is his old friend? Who is Matthias?" Hush wanted to know the answer to these questions. And there was only one way to get them.

Hush began climbing up the ladder. That was when he heard the Chief said, "You haven't changed much since the Calamity War, have you? Well, not after that modification, at least." 

"'Calamity War'?" Thought Hush before continuing up the ladders. Right before going onto the platform, he let his presence be known to the Chief, "Um, excuse me."

Chief was caught off guard by his voice and swiftly turned his attention towards him which startled Hush a bit. "S-Sorry, am I bothering you?"

"No, not at all."

"I see." Hush set foot onto the platform.

"You," called the Chief. "You are Hush Middy, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"What were you doing so late at night?"

"Oh, I couldn't sleep very well."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," He nodded. That was when Hush decided to shot him the question. "What about you, Chief? Why were you talking to Murmur?"

"Oh...," he said softly, "Of course. You must have heard me."

"Yes, I did," Hush confirmed. "So... Who is Matthias?"

"Oh, apologies. It's actually Murmur now, right? It's been so long that I forgot his new name."

Hush took a step towards him, "Um, so-," but he was cut off by Chief who had walked past him, "Okay, that's enough questions for now." The Chief headed onto the ladder went down to it. "You should go to sleep soon. A good night's sleep is crucial to having a healthy lifestyle."

The Chief left the hangar soon after. Hush only stood still on the platform, confused as watched his shadow leaving the hangar. He went up looking for answers but was only left with more questions.


	11. Breakfast Talk

Hush was sleeping soundly on his bed when he felt his body being shaken up by a pair of hands. A loud voice followed after, telling him to, "Wake up! Hey, Wake up! Hush!"

Hush opened his eyes and found Miguel shaking his body, an expression of frustration was on his face. Behind him was Joe who had seen the whole thing. He let him go and sighed, "You finally woke up. You are a real deep sleeper, y'know that?"

Hush was a bit confused, "Huh?"

Joe answered, "H-He spent about 10 minutes trying to wake you up."

Miguel confirmed it, "That's right!"

Hearing that, Hush felt a bit guilty, "I'm sorry."

Miguel's expression softened when he saw Hush's reaction, "Nah, it's fine. Me and Joe are going to the cafeteria. You and her better hurry up," Miguel pointed to Lily who was standing in front of her bed, staring off into space with a dead expression.

"I understand. I'll be there in a bit." 

The two exited the room. 

Hush gently caressed the smooth surface of his bed sheets and pressed down on the soft bed. The reason why he woke up late was because it was the first time he had a good night's sleep ever since his Revival. 

The bed on the ship didn't feel like a hard slab of sandpaper. It felt warm, soft and very comfortable. He was actually able to had a good night's sleep. The warm and wholesome dinner he had didn't distract from that fact either. 

"I'm so fortunate...," thought Hush. For a second, he wondered what would happen if Raito had handed him without hesitation but quickly threw that line of thought away and told himself, "I shouldn't be thinking like this."

He got off the bed and wore his metal grey jacket. 

"Hey Lily, let's go get breakfast at the cafeteria."

"Command accepted."

The two exited the room.

Although Hush finally got the time time to relax, there were still several mysteries left for him to uncover.

After receiving the food from Mary, the two sat with Joe and Miguel and they started having breakfast together.

Halfway through the meal, Hush was reminded of the conversation he had with the Chief, last night. 'Matthias', 'Calamity War' and 'Chief's identity', these are 3 of the 5 mysteries he had been wondering about since yesterday and for some reason, he was strongly determined to uncover them. He figured right then that it was the perfect opportunity to ask the two about it. Of course, he had to be careful with his words as the Chief had told him to keep the strange event last night a secret. There must be a reason why.

"Hey," Hush said to the two. "I got a few questions to ask. I hope you two don't mind."

Miguel became intrigued, "What is it? What is it?" He then whispered to Hush, "Could it be... You want to go and mess around with some girls? I know a pretty good place~," he poked at Hush's shoulder a few times.

Hush's face turned slightly red from embarrassment. He knew exactly what he meant by 'mess around with some girls'. "N-No, that's not what I..."

Miguel let out a giggle, "I'm joking!" He lightly hit Hush in the back.

"O-Oh... I see...,"

"S-So," Joe said, "What is it that you wanted to ask?"

"Ask away!" Added Miguel.

Hush asked his question, "Can you tell me more about the Calamity War?"

"'The Calamity War'?" Said Miguel. "Seems a bit out of nowhere. Why do you suddenly want to know about something so old?"

"Oh, no... No reason," answered Hush. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"Hmm.... I see," Miguel replied. "I'm not very knowledgeable about it. All I know that it's a big war that happened 300 hundred years ago an-."

"T-The Calamity War," Joe said suddenly, "The large-scale war that occurred between the Earth Sphere and the Outer Sphere, a tragic and horrible event which caused mass destruction everywhere. So much so that technological capabilities fell so far down. There's a lot of things unknown about the war but one thing that's for sure was that it one of the objectives of the war was to gain possession of the Ahab Reactors. After the war, the former Earth Sphere government completely disintegrated and was replaced by Gjallarhorn. W-Well, that's all about I know."

After Joe's explanation, only a moment of complete quietness followed. 

Wondering why there was no response, Joe looked at the two and found the two staring at him.

"W-What?" He was a bit unnerved by their reaction.

Miguel was the first to spoke up, "No... It's just... Isn't what you said just pretty much common knowledge? Even I know that much. I was expecting you to know more about it." 

Joe's face could be seen warping into upsetness, "S-Shut up! I-It's not my fault, that's all I know, okay?! Y-You must think I'm a useless person or something..." 

"Hey, I never said that!" Miguel quickly remarked. "Jeez, calm down, man. I'm sorry okay?"

Hush on the other hand found the information pretty useful, "Thanks for the information, Mr. Joe. It was helpful." 

"Huh?" Asked Joe. 

"Oh, like I said, it was very helpful. Thank you." 

"I see...," Joe's face turned red slightly as he smiled. He was delighted by Hush's answer. He gently pushed his food tray towards him, "H-Here, you can have some of mine."

Hush was surprised at first but almost immediately thought to decline, "Oh... It's okay. I'm fine with what I have."

"Then, I'll gladly take some for you!" Miguel's spoon began reaching for the food on the tray only for his hand to receive a sudden sharp pain.

"OW!" Joe had slapped his hand. Miguel gazed at Joe with a pained surprise expression, "Hey, what was that fo-," his mouth quickly stopped moving and only stood agape the moment he saw death itself staring back at him back. "What?" A voice full of anger said, "You wanna go?"

A lump went down Miguel's throat, "N-No thanks...!" Miguel continued eating his own food as Joe pulled his tray back. 

Hush only

"S-So," said Joe, "Anything else you wanna know, Hush?"

"Hmm.... Do you know what, 'Matthias' is?" 

"'M-Matthias'...?" Sweat can be seen suddenly running down Joe's surprised face. 

Hush was puzzled by Joe's reaction, "Mr. Joe? What's wrong?" 

Miguel noticed it too, "You're sweating pretty hard that. You alright?" 

"N-No...! It's nothing...," Joe quickly reassured them. "Anyway, you wanna know about Matthias, right? He's a Saint, an apostle." 

"'An apostle'?" Asked Hush. 

"Y-Yeah..., that's all I know unfortunately." 

"Wait, that's it?" Asked Miguel. "Isn't he like, a big part of a religion or something? Isn't there more information or something?" 

"W-Well, if you know so much," replied Joe, "Explain it to Hush, then!" 

"Well..., I don't know much either," Miguel let out a relaxed laugh. 

"Hmpf."

"If you don't mind," said Hush, "I have one last question." 

"Sure," answered Miguel. "Well, we haven't been much help for you at all so we probably won't answer this one either." 

"It's okay, any information would be helpful," Hush replied. "Anyway, is it possible for someone to live for 300 years?" 

"Huh...?!" This time, both Joe and Miguel have half-shocked faces. 

"You've been asking real odd questions, Hush," Miguel remarked. "What's gotten into you? Did you have a weird dream last night or something?" 

"N-No, it's not that... I'm just really curious. Hush said. "Sorry. The questions were really weird, huh?"

"Yeah, they were. But it's okay, we don't mind. Right, Joe?" 

The two looked at Joe who was in deep thought. "Uh... I don't think it's possible for someone to live for over 300 years, not with our current technology at least. You can however live for 200 years instead." 

Hush then asked, "What do you mean?" 

"W-With our current medical technology, it's possible for someone to live for 200 years. But, it can only be done if you're rich since it costs a lot. But, for someone to live for 300 years... It's just not possible. Unless..." 

Joe suddenly paused mid-sentence. 

"Unless what?" Asked Miguel. 

Joe answered, "Unless the technology before PD is capable of it. We already know that technological capabilities fell significantly after the Calamity War but that's not to say that Pre-PD's isn't more technologically-advanced. If that is the case, one can definitely live over 300 years. Maybe... Someone before PD might actually still be alive right now."

"Could it be that...," thought Hush, "the Chief is someone like that?" 

"Wow, that'd be super crazy," said Miguel.

"I-I personally doubt it though." 

"I see...," answered Hush. "Thank you for answering my questions, Mr. Joe. I really appreciate it," Hush's deadpanned face turned into a soft smile. 

"N-No problem," Joe said as his face turned slightly red. 

"Btw," Hush said, "Where's Mr. Raito?" 

"Oh, he's outside collecting the spoils of war," Miguel answered. "You did a hell of a job, last night!" Miguel softly punched Hush's arm. 

"Thank you...," he said, still smiling but more awkwardly. He still felt weird being praised like that. 

After finishing their meal, Hush and Lily left the cafeteria and headed for the Mobile Suit Hangar.


	12. Feeling Guilty?

When they entered the Mobile Suit Hangar, the first thing that caught Hush's eyes was one of many Grazes being loaded onto the ship by the Kekkadan crew. Each of the Grazes had a large hole around the cockpit. 

Not too far away, there was Raito, observing their work intently. Next to him was the Chief who was typing away at his tablet. 

Hush firmed his fists up. "He knows," he thought. "If I really want to know, I have to ask him."

Hush went down the stairs and walked over them followed by Lily. 

That was when Raito asked the Chief, "That's the last one, right?"

"Yeah. They weren't too much damage done, mostly just the cockpits so we can still sell them at a high price. However, we still have to spare one or two for the Shidens and if possible..."

"Excuse me," Hush called out to them. 

Raito and the Chief turned their attention towards him.

"Oh, Hush," said Raito, "What is it?"

Hush was about to answer however he couldn't help but feel discomforted by the Chief's presence and the way he was being staring at him. Although his eyes weren't visible, Hush could feel a strong intensity from his stares. It all felt overwhelming. That feeling however may very well had came from his own imagination. 

"It's probably because of last night's conversation...," thought Hush. If possible, he would to tell him right then and there that he has no intention on telling anyone what happened last night as he thought it might actually get rid of the discomfortness but of course, that would only raise suspicion. 

A bit weirded out by his silence, Raito asked him, "What's wrong?" 

"Oh, n-no," Hush said in response. He decided to put the feeling aside for now. "Is there anything I can help with?" 

"No, not really. We're just about done here." 

"I-I see..." 

By this point, the chief had stopped staring and turned back to continue with his work. Hush let out a small sigh of relief and was now able to focus on his original intention, "Anyway, I was wondering if I can talk to you in private, Mr. Raito?"

"Sure. I have to talk to you as well so this is perfect timing. We'll talk when I'm done with this."

Hush nodded, "Got it."

A moment after, three guys walked on over to the very last Graze right in front of them. They had a body bag in hand and a tool box.

One of them asked Raito, "This is the last one, right Boss?"

"Yeah. After this, you can go ahead and take a long break."

The three guys cheered on with joy, "Alright!" 

Raito couldn't help but smile at their reaction. 

The two guys climbed onto the Graze's torso while the remaining one set up a tarp near on the floor. 

What followed after was the screen of a saw piercing through the metal hatch of the cockpit. Once thoroughly cut, the hatch was completely removed and put off to the side. 

One of the guys reached into the cockpit and lifted the pilot's body. Or rather, what's left of it. It was a completely bloody mess. Most of the pilot was obliterated, leaving behind limbs with exposed bones that were burned. The limbs were barely connected to each other by a thin string of meat. 

Hush was in shock seeing the body in such a state. He felt... Sickened by it. Not just by the body itself but also by himself who had caused it to enter such a state. 

The body was handed to the last guy who set it on the tarp.

Hush stared in horror at the state of the body. As if he was being pulled, he walked over to the body and crouched down to it. "I... I did that...," he told himself. "I killed that person and the Human Dusts here...." 

The expression of horror slowly changed into sadness. Hush clenched his fists out of frustration. He very well knew that there was no turning back. He knew that there was no point in regretting it now. "If I didn't kill them, they would have killed me," Hush told himself with conviction. "If I didn't kill them, they would only continue to suffer and cause other people to suffer as well. So... I...!" He clenched his fists tightly. 

Hush's hand reached out to the body, almost touching it. That expression of sadness soon melted into sympathy. He softly muttered, "I'm sorry that things had to turn out this way. I hope I didn't cause you too much pain."

Raito observed Hush's actions and facial expressions. Then, he asked, "Do you regret it?"

"Well, I..."

"Don't. It's kill or be killed out here. If you regret what you did now then these guys you killed in order to live would have died in vain. You saved everyone here, Hush. Be proud of that."

Hush gave him no response and simply stared at the body as it gets bagged up. He knew that Raito was right and accepted that fact silently as he stood back up. 

"I'm surprised that Mikazuki didn't teach you that," Raito said suddenly.

Hush's eyes widened a bit and he turned around. "There it is again," he thought. "This 'Mikazuki' person... Who is he? He sounds so... Familiar. Why should he be the one to teach me that? Is it because I'm close to him? Is he... My mentor or something?" His curiosity sparked greater than ever. 

"Then again, knowing him, it's perfectly plausible."

Three loudful cheers were suddenly heard, "Alright!" 

The two workers came down from the Graze. "Alright Boss! We're done with our work!" Said one of them. "We're gonna go eat our breakfast now!" And with that, the three of them began walking away. 

"You best savour it!" Raito remarked with a smile. 

"Of course we will!" 

"The beautiful maiden, Mary prepared it for us, after all!" 

The three happily laughed as they exited the hangar. 

"Now then," said Raito. "I think we're all done here. I leave the rest to you, Chief of Accountant," Raito said to the Chief. 

"Eh?!" Said Hush, surprised. "I thought he's the Chief of Maintenance?" 

"That is my main job, yes," answered the Chief, "But I am also the Chief of Accountant. Although it puzzles me as to why I am not referred to simply as the accountant considering I'm the only one assigned to this role." 

"Well...," said Raito, "It's just easier that way. Let's not sweat the small details."

"I... I see," Hush replied. 

"Anyway, follow me to my office, Hush," Raito turned around and began walking away. 

Hush's body firmed up. He was prepared to ask Raito 'it'. He followed after him as well. However, just right before he passed the Chief, he whispered to him, "Don't worry, I don't intent on telling anyone about our conversation last night." 

The Chief did not give a response and merely watched as Hush left the hangar.


	13. Office Talk

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Raito asked with a soft smile as soon as Hush and Lily entered the room.

"Is it okay if I talk first?" Hush replied.

"Sure, go ahead."

Hush took a deep breath and firmed up his body, "Mr. Raito, please tell me about my past."

"'Your past'?" Said Raito, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... Ever since I woke up I... I have no memories."

Raito's eyes widened in shock when he heard that, "N-No memories?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've been wondering about who I am and what I was doing before I got to that research lab. Then, I met you. Please tell me, Mr. Raito; everything that you know about me," Hush bowed down to Raito, in order to further plead about his request.

"H-Hey...!" Taken by surprise by his sudden action, Raito took a step back, a drop of sweat came falling from his face. After a few moments of silence, he suddenly said, "W-What makes you think that I know?"

"Huh?" Hush wasn't expecting that response. Hush looked up and saw that Raito's facial expression have changed. To Hush, he looked... Nervous. 

"Y-You must be mistaken!" Raito suddenly said. "I... I literally have never seen you before in my life! So, what makes you think that I know, huh?!"

"Why is he acting so strangely?" Thought Hush. 

"W-Well?!" 

Hush stood up straight and tried to think of the most honest answer to his question. Why DID he think so? "Well... Judging from the way you spoke to me and the words you've used, it seemed like you already knew me."

"H-Huh?!" More sweat can be seen on his face, now. "T-That doesn't mean anything! I talk like this to everyone, y'know! And what do you mean by the words that I used? There's nothing suspicious or noteworthy about them at all."

"He's definitely acting strange," thought Hush.

"Well, not just that," he answered. "This 'Mikazuki' person... The way you talked about him made it sound like we had a close relationship, like you've seen in first-hand." 

Raito's mouth opened, leaving out a small gap, almost as if he was about to mutter, "Crap."

"Not to mention, when you first mentioned his name, I felt weird... Like something is resonating in me. My head hurt at that time too, like something was about to get lodged out. That's the best that I can describe. I hope that my answer is acceptable."

"..." Raito only hung his head down in response. For moments, he merely stayed silent as if he had been muted completely.

"Mr. Raito? What's wrong?" Hush asked, starting to feel concern for him. 

Suddenly, an intense fierce glare pierced Hush's eyes as Raito looked at him head on. He bore a single expression that made it hard to believe that he was the same person that was smiling just moments ago. It was as if he was a completely different person. 

Hush felt a shiver going down his spine, "M-Mr. Raito..?"

Without warning, a gun was pulled out and aimed at Hush by none other than Raito himself.

Hush was completely shocked by his sudden action. His first thought was to jump back to Lily and shield her but before he could, Lily herself shielded Hush with her body.

"L-Lily...!" He exclaimed. Hush looked on at Raito who looked as if he was about to shoot them at any moment.

"P-Please don't shoot her, Mr. Raito!" Hush pleased him only to receive the very same glare as a response. That was until... "-ff m- sh-p," a single mutter was heard.

Hush couldn't hear it that well as he was too worried about the possibility of Lily getting shot. "W-What...?" He asked nervously. "What did you-"

"I said..., 'Get off my ship'!" 

After entering the Hangar, Hush continued walking towards where Murmur is stationed with both his hands up all while having a gun directly pointing at his back by Raito who was still wearing that expression. Hush's heart was beating fast. He couldn't tell if Raito would actually shoot them or not. If possible, he'd like to believe that this was all prank. He glanced over at Lily who was walking beside him. He was glad that she wasn't injured or anything.

Only one question remained in his mind, "Why is Mr. Raito doing this?" However he didn't have the time to think about it as the situation was a bit nerve-wracking for him. He only stayed silent and obeyed.

Everyone in the hangar who were watching them were as just as confused and some were even a bit distraught by their boss's behaviour.

They continued walking until arriving at the ladder which lead to the Mobile Suit cockpit platform. 

"Climb," Raito said in a commanding voice. 

Hush climbed up and Lily followed after with Raito being the last. 

Then, from the direction towards Murmur, the Chief walked over to them. "What's the meaning of this, boss?" He asked. 

Raito ignored his question and followed it up his own, "You've finished maintenance on Murmur, right?" 

"That's correct. Howeve-" 

"Good. They're leaving, right now. Open the cockpit."

"Wait, what? Bu-" The Chief was about to protest only for it to get cut short by Raito, "I said, 'they're leaving'! Open the damn cockpit, now! That's an order."

"... Fine."

The Chief went to Murmur's torso and hit the small phsycial button on it, allowing the cockpit to open. 

Right then, Mary climbed onto the platform. And hanging over shoulder was a white backpack. "Boss, I brought the bag. I stuffed it with money like you asked." 

"Perfect timing," Hush took the backpack. "Hey Hush, here." He tossed it to Hush. 

Hush frantically caught the backpack in time. Seconds after, Raito pointed back the gun at them which gained a look of susprise from Mary, "B-Boss?" 

Raito ignored her and commanded them to, "Walk." 

They did as said and were escorted to Murmur's chest. 

"Get in," commanded Raito. "Then, leave and never come back." 

Hush didn't want to. He felt as though it'd be wrong to do so. He looked at Raito who looked back at him, still wearing that same expression. Raito looked dead serious about it. Hush still had more questions but he knew he can't afford to ask them. He can't risk Lily getting shot. With a heavy heart, he reluctantly climbed onto Murmur's chest. Then, he extended his hand to Lily, "Let's go, Lily." 

"Command accepted." 

Hush pulled her up and they both went inside the cockpit. 

"Get em' outta here!" Raito commanded the crew workers. A claw arm came and grabbed Murmur away. 

"Are you sure about this, Boss?" The Chief asked him.

"They'll be fine. Even though we're in the desert of the African Union, there's a city nearby. Plus they're in a Gundam Frame Mobile Suit and I already gave them money. You don't have to worry about them that much." 

"So, at the very least, let me ask, why did you suddenly do this?" 

"That's something which you don't have to know. Get back to work. There's a lot of preparations to be done. We'll be launching to space tomorrow morning, after all." Raito walked away without looking at the Chief's direction even once. 

"It's better this way...," thought Raito. Both his hands were shaking, his teeth were clenched tightly, "It's better this way...!"


	14. All-you-can-eat

Nighttime, in another region. 

The loud sizzle that was heard throughout the restaurant, the sweet smell of meat that enveloped the air, the spacious, brightly-lit air-conditioned room and the joyful smells on people as they conversed with one another resulted in the creation of a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere.

At one of the tables, a lady was happily partaking in the consumption of grilled meat. That lady was none other than Julieta Juris.

One by one, grilled meat disappeared off of her plate. Although she found the meal to be quite satisfactory, there was but one thing that was bothering her. And that thing had its two dazzling eyes curiously staring at her every action, happily smiling while doing so. That very thing was named Gaelio Bauduin.

"Is it really that delicious?" Gaelio asked her. 

She stopped eating to answer his question, "Yes, the meal is quite delicious however your stare is rather displeasing. Can you please stop it?"

"Don't wanna," he replied rather childishly. Julieta was taken aback by his reply, "You are an adult. You shouldn't be speaking in such a childish manner."

"Don't care," he said childishly again. 

Julieta sighed, "Is there something amusing on my face."

"Well, a very cute face IS rather amusing."

"Wha-," Julieta's face began turning red with embarrassment. She quickly tried to put on a more stoic expression as she cleared her throat, "I-It seems that you've grown quite cheeky."

With a confident smile, Gaelio said, "And every time I look at you, you grow more and more beautiful."

"Wha-Wha-Wha...!" Julieta couldn't keep a straight face anymore. Her face became redder and redder with each passing second. She was stunned to the point that she couldn't speak properly.

Gaelio was rather amused by her reaction, "Oh my, what's wron-"

Before he could react, Julieta had shoved a large piece of meat fresh off of the grill into his mouth, "...!" 

Gaelio was taken by surprise not only how big it was but also by how hot the piece of meat was. He started chewing it as best as he could but struggled by doing so. His mouth was in pain but he kept going. Finally, he was able to swallow it. Then, he quickly grabbed his glass of water and gulped it down. The whole time, Julieta merely watched with a big grin on her face. 

Gaelio let out a sigh before focusing a strong gaze on Julieta. He was, without a doubt, mad, "W-What was that for?!"

She put on a more dignified smirk, "Disciplinary action is required to keep order. Delicious, wasn't it?"

He was momentarily appalled by her statement, "Y-Yeah it was but I seriously thought I was gonna die there!"

"Do not worry, I made sure you won't choke on it. Serves your right for being cheeky in the first place."

Gaelio's expression suddenly changed into a smirk, "'Cheeky'? I was just complimenting you. What, can't the gallant female knight that took the head of the devil handle a few compliments?"

An expression of annoyance was displayed on her face, "Hey, I told you to not address me with that term." 

"Why not? You don't mind your co-workers calling you that, don't you?" 

"I DO mind. But, Lord Rustal told me to keep face. I'm now the commander of the Arianrhod fleet after all. It's greatly exaggerated, anyway. It wasn't just my power that defeated it, everyone in the Arianrhod fleet contributed."

"And yet you took it?"

"You already knew that it was because Lord Rustal told me to, don't you? Looking back on it, I shouldn't have taken the title. Besides..."

"'The members of Tekkadan weren't devils', right?"

She nodded, "Yeah." Gaelio noticed that her facial expression began changing. She looked more... Sad.

"I got it," Gaelio suddenly said. "In other words, you want me and only me to call you by your name when we're alone, right?" He playfully said with a hint of smugness.

For the third time, Julieta's cheeks getting rosy red. But this time, she was able to answer with a clear yet soft, "Yeah," as she nodded her head. Seeing her like that made Gaelio blush as well. "She really is cute," he thought.

"A-Anyway," said Gaelio, "how did the weekly meeting go? Everything good?"

"For the most part. But... When there was something strange caught my eye when I visited HQ this morning." 

"'Something strange'?" He asked, curious.

"Yeah. I saw a group of people bringing in three boxes."

"What's so strange about that?"

"The boxes... They looked like medical Nanomachines sarcophagus. Only... They were completely enclosed."

"'Completely enclosed'? So you can't see what or who is inside it?"

"Yeah. I think they're loaded. There was a small lit green LED at the side on one of them."

"Hmm... That is strange. Medical Nanomachines aren't supposed to be completely concealed like that."

"Gaelio...," a dead serious tone was heard coming from her voice, "I... I have a really bad feeling about those boxes. I can't help but feel anxious thinking about it."

Gaelio noticed her left hand which rested atop the table curling up into a fist. Without hesitating, Gaelio reached for it and gently held it in his hand. "Don't worry. I'm here for you. Possibly even forever," as he finished saying that last sentence, he gently caressed the engagement ring on her finger that he gave her not too long ago.

"Y-Yeah...," she said rather shyly. The whole engagement thing was still new to her, after all. "Um, are you really sure it should be me?" She said rather anxiously before hanging her head down, "You already know that I'm... More than quite a handful to deal with. Not to mention, I'm constantly busy. I barely have time to see you. I was more than lucky to be able to have dinner with you today. There are much better suitors out there for you." 

"Julieta," he called her in a stern manner. Her eyes met directly with his face. She could see the gentle smile that formed on his face, "I've never been more sure than ever." 

"Is that so...?" 

"Yeah. Besides, no one takes good care of me better than you go." 

"I see...," her cheeks began turning rosy again. Gaelio's smile couldn't help become wider. He leaned forward as far as he could, closed both of his eyes and softly puckered his lips.

"Oh...," Julieta knew exactly what it meant. Her cheeks became even rosier. She closed her eyes and softly puckered her lips as well. Slowly, she began leaning into his face and...

"MOMMY, LOOK! THEY'RE KISSING!" A little girl nearby screamed out. This action immediately threw the couple off and made them a nervous and awkward wreck. The little girl jumped up and down while pointing to them, "They're kissing! They're kissing!" She joyfully said.

"H-Hey!" Her mother immediately grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away before scolding her child, "Don't do stuff like that, that's rude!" 

"Mom, you should kiss more often with daddy too! You have been kissing uncle Jerome too much lately!"

"H-Hey, shut your mouth or I'm going to ground you!"

The mother quickly dragged the child by the arm out of the restaurant with a face full of embarrassment, leaving a heavy awkward atmosphere in the restaurant.

The couple only sat there in silence, both looking down as it felt too awkward for them to look at each other. A few moments later, Julieta finally broke the silence between them, "Let's… Let's Leave."

"Y-Yeah…"


	15. A Call For Help

Laying down in the heat of the desert was Gundam Murmur, its body was covered by its pure white wings, dusted by the sand that blew by.

Hush sat inside equipped with a blank stare with only one thought in his mind, "Why did Mr. Raito do all that?" Hush left the Hachi no Hari, bound by that single thought. Although the distress he felt was gone, his confusion remained. 

His thoughts continued, "Is it... Is it my fault? Did he act like that because I asked him about my past? But why?" Hush thought about the various possible reasons as to why but just couldn't. "No, it probably doesn't matter. Whatever the reason is, I... Made him upset to the point he'd suddenly banish me. He probably hates me how."

Regret began filling his mind, slowly making him frustrated.

He then suddenly remembered that Lily was right there, sitting on his lap. He almost instantly tried to calm himself down. 

"Now's not the time for this," Hush told himself. "I have to think about what's best for the both of us. I have to protect her."

Hush looked at Lily and said to her, "Hey Lily, can you please move aside for a bit? I need to get some fresh air. Can you watch Murmur for me?" 

"Command accepted."

Hush set his foot onto the hot sand. The sun was shining brightly, not a single wind was felt. He took a deep breath, wondering what should be his next course of action.

"HELP!" A sudden shout rang across the air, catching Hush's attention. When he turned his head towards the direction of the voice, he saw an little African girl running straight at him, "HELP!" She shouted. She wore a panicked expression on her face. 

Feeling a bit concerned, Hush thought to approach the girl however one thing caught his eye that alarmed him. The girl was holding a hunting knife, fully in sight.

"Why is this little girl running at me with knife?!" He thought. "I-Is she going to kill me?!" Hush was unable to move as his body froze up at that seemingly impossible possibility. 

Before the girl could get any closer, a loud mechanical sound was heard, as if a giant machine was moving quickly. 

The girl instantly froze up in fear. Hush glanced behind to where the sound came from and sure enough, there was a kneeling Murmur, pointing one of its gun at the little girl.

"Lily..." Muttered Hush. 

The little girl's body was shaking uncontrollably. "N-N-N-N....!" It seemed as thought the girl was saying something but Hush couldn't understand her at all. It sounded as if she was trying to force the words out but couldn't. 

That was until, "NO! DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT! FRIEND! FRIEND!" She dropped her knife to the ground to show them she's friendly.

Hearing that, Hush turned back to Lily and shouted, "Lily, stop! Put it away!"

As requested, Murmur put the gun away. 

The little girl let out a huge sigh of relief. Her expression then suddenly changed to a more serious one as if she just remembered something important and immediately ran to Hush, "Help!" She said while panting heavily. 

"Whoa, calm down," Hush said to her in a gentle manner. "What's wrong? What do you need help with? Can you explain it properly?" 

"My... My papa! He got kidnapped! You have to help him! Please!

"Huh?" Hush was surprised, "Your papa got kidnapped?!"

"Yes! You have to hurry! They went that way! That way!" She frantically pointed to a direction whilst hopping up and down.

Though slightly overwhelmed at first, Hush answered her request almost immediately, "G-Got it, I'll help you."

Hush had jumped into Murmur with the little girl and connected himself to it after ordering Lily to disconnect and were now heading towards the given direction.

"Hey," Hush called to the girl, "why were you running with a knife?"

"Oh, that! I tried to help papa fight them off earlier but he told me to run instead! The kidnappers wore black suits and! And! And! They had so many guns!" The girl made an 'explosion sign' with her arms as if to emphasise on the quantity of said guns. 

"Oh..."

"They all suddenly came in a black jeep while we were shopping and took papa away! Please, you have to hurry!"

"I understand, I'll try my best," he assured her.

Seconds passed, and there Hush saw it, a black jeep driving in the middle of the desert. 

"That's it!" The girl said, "That's the jeep that the kidnappers came in! They took papa! Hurry!" 

Hush replied with a, "Got it!" before leaning his foot further onto the gas pedal.

Meanwhile, the driver of the jeep had noticed Murmur advancing towards them, "W-What the...?!" However, by that time, it was too late. 

He flew over and passed the van. Then he turned around to directly face front of it before stomping down onto the bonnet while using the foot as a brake. 

Seconds later, the van came to a complete stop, smoke was emitting from its engine. 

Murmur lifted its foot from the bonnet. As expected, the van's engine was in a crushed state.

The occupants inside froze up. It wasn't the size but rather the sharp glare of Murmur's golden eyes that struck fear into their hearts.

"E-Escape!" Four men in black suits exited the jeep and ran as fast as they could as they feared for their lives. Hush merely watched as they did so.

"Papa...," muttered the girl. "Where is papa? I don't see him anywhere." 

"He's probably still in the car. Let's go down and search for him, okay?"

Moments after, Hush and the girl exited Murmur and approached the jeep.

They first checked the inside of the car and found that nobody else was inside.

Right then, they heard a muffled scream and loud noises that sounded as if something was moving around, all seemed to be coming from the trunk. They both walked over to it.

Hush began observing the trunk and feeled his hand around it to try and find a way to open it until he grabbed onto a handle of some sort. He pressed on it and lifted the trunk up with no problems.

As expected, a person was found inside, an African man that seemed to be in his 40s, gagged with both arms and legs tied. Though he expected to find someone, Hush couldn't help but still be a bit unnerved by the situation.

When the man saw them, he let out a muffled shout, "...isha!"

"Papa!" Exclaimed the girl. 

Hush helped the girl untie and ungag her father.

Once freed from his bindings, the father stood up and let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Papa!" The girl said with relief. She leapt out to her father in joy and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my dear, Nakeisha!" Said the father. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Nakeisha cheerfully smiled at him, "No, I'm fine! What about you, papa?"

"I am alright as well," Hush only watched in silence, feeling happy for them and relieved that he was able to help.

The father noticed Hush watching and asked, "Nakeisha, who is he?"

"Oh, this mister helped me find you!" 

"Really?" 

"Yes! He had a big giant robot and he smashed this car! Look!" Nakeisha pointed to behind him. The father glanced behind and was surprised to see Murmur sitting down on one knee, "T-That is a rather amazing robot. A 'Mobile Suit' is it?"

Hush nodded, "Yes."

The father looked back at Hush and walked towards him, "Well, you most definitely earned my thanks, stranger," he extended his hand out, "My name is Jafari Abara. You?"

Hush shook his hand, "I'm Hush Middy."

"'Hush Middy', huh? Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Right as their hands separated, Nakeisha jumped to them and cheerfully said, "My name is Nakeisha Abara! Thank you so much for saving papa, Mr. Middy!"

"N-No... it wasn't a problem."

"Oh, we have to pay him somehow right, papa?!" asked Nakeisha. 

Jafari didn't reply and only stayed silent, "..." 

"Papa?" Nakeisha looked at her father and found him blankly staring at Murmur. "Papa!" 

"Y-Yes...?" Jafari said, surprised. "What were we talking about?" 

"We were talking about repaying Mr. Middy!" Nakeisha said, a bit annoyed. 

"Oh yeah..." 

"Sheesh! You should pay more attention, papa!" Nakeisha pouted at her father. 

"Sorry sorry...," he softly smiled as he gently pat her head. 

"Repaying him..." muttered the father before saying to Hush, "Well, we don't have much money but what about having dinner with us? My wife's a great cook, y'know." 

"N-No...," replied Hush almost immediately, "I'd only trouble you."

"No, you won't!" Nakeisha replied.

"But...,"

"It's the least we could do for you," said the father.

Hush tried to reject their invitation several times after however... Their persistence eventually managed to drag him back to their home regardless.


	16. To Shield Someone

"Ride? Ride. Hey, Ride. Wake up, Ride!" A strict tone spoke to Ride. Thanks to those words, he was able to snap back into reality.

Ride focused his gaze onto the person that woke him up, "Orga...?"

Standing in front of him was none other than Orga Itsuka. He wore a rather fancy white tuxedo that really suited him. "Stop spacing out. Kudelia went out of her way to organise this party for us. The least you could do is enjoy yourself."

"Y-Yeah..." As soon as he heard that, he glanced down on his body and saw that he had a tuxedo on. Then, he looked around him, people were smiling, talking, eating, drinking and dancing with each other. The atmosphere all around him was a joyful one. 

However, something felt off. "This... This isn't right...," Ride muttered.

Right then, he felt that there was something dripping on from his hand. He raised it up to look at it and found it covered with blood. He was taken by surprise, "What...?" 

He did the same with his other hand and found that it was also covered with blood. 

That was when his clothes suddenly changed. He was no longer in a tuxedo but rather his work clothes only... They were covered in blood. A look of horror and shock formed on his face, "W-What…?!"

"Just kidding." Ride looked at the person who said those two words, at Orga who was dressed in his red suit, drenched in blood.

"O... Orga...?!" Ride tried his best not to scream the moment he saw Orga in that state. 

"Who the hell said you can have fun?" He said. "I died because of you."

"No... No...," Ride took a step back only to suddenly fell to the ground, his eyes were filled with tears. 

"Your hands are stained with my blood." 

"No...!" 

"The one who killed me... Was you, Ride!"

"NOO!!" And with that, Ride, or rather, Raito woke up from his nightmare, breathing and sweating heavily. 

"Wha..?" He surveyed his surroundings and found himself inside of his room and on the bed. He let out a sigh of relief, "A dream... Huh?"

Even so, he couldn't help but look at both of his hands. Thankfully, both of them are clean. Physically, that is.

"Orga... My hands are stained with your blood...," thought Raito. "That day, if only I...!" Raito didn't finish his thought. He knew it was pointless to do so. He knew he couldn't change the past. But even then, he still could not let it go. Once again, he was reminded of how powerless he really was. 

Suddenly, he remembered Hush. "Him... I wonder how he's doing," thought Raito.

He recalled what Hush said to him that time, "I have amnesia."

"Come to think of it, he never called me 'Ride', not even once. If only I realised it sooner... I almost messed up there...," thought Ride. "Oh well, at least I was able to banish him in time. He already went through a lot of pain those years ago. I won't let him be hurt by those painful memories. He'll be able start a new life. He... won't end up like me...," a smile of genuine happiness and relief formed on his face as he went back to sleep.

"Sheesh, what is he thinking?" Thought Almiria as she sat on her bed. "He seemed so disgustingly happy to be reunited with him too" 

She had heard the news of Hush's and Lily's forced departure from Mary and was appalled by the news. She recalled the conversation she had with with Raito a few hours ago.

Almiria walked up to Raito, "Hey Raito, what's going on?!" She asked. "Why did you force them off the ship?"

"I'm the captain," replied Raito. "I make the decisions and I decided that it was best for them to leave."

"Wasn't he your former comrade?! You said so yourself. And yet you're just gonna banish him like that?"

"Our past relationship doesn't mean anything. Besides, the deal with Dr. Yamato was to help him escape. It does not say that we have to accept him as a member of Kekkadan."

"But..."

"Besides, why do you care so much?" Right then, a smug expression appeared on his face, "Did you develop a crush on him or something?"

Almiria suddenly got flustered, "D-Don't be ridiculous, Raito! Jus-"

A serious expression appeared on Raito's face as he cut her off, "My decision is to have them leave and that's final." He turned his back to her. Right before he left, she heard him mutter, "Someone like you won't understand, anyway."

"Tch," Almiria got a bit pissed off thinking about it. She went to sleep, still confused by Raito's decision.

And it wasn't just her. Everyone on the ship was as well, especially Joe and Miguel who had spent the most time with Hush. They all heard from Raito that Hush was his former comrade. 

But, when they asked Raito about it, they all got the same answer as Almiria's. None of them actually knew what went through Raito's mind during the time.


End file.
